#018

The only ones who had kept it together were Ijin and Seokju. Even then, Seokju had taken a few moments in the night to have a few tears to himself. Ijin had been the only one awake to hear him, and he decided to say nothing about it.

None of them said anything about it because after a few nights of hearing people scream in the streets all day and night, what was there left to say? What could they say about the sights that they could see from the balcony? It had been hard to believe, even harder to comprehend, but they knew what they saw. They know that they had seen people eating each other and tearing each other apart. They know that the apartments all around them had filled with screams as well and days after, quiet knocks that they didn’t know were humans or monsters doing so.

The silence that had permeated their world had become oppressive. The silence so overwhelming, even the sound of a cell phone vibrating in a pocket had nearly scared the daylights out of everyone. It was the first sound that they had heard in hours by then.

Ijin quickly answered it. It wasn’t a phone that any of them had seen before, it wasn’t the phone that was his, but he answered it anyway.

They couldn’t glean anything from the phone call as it had been a short phone call. So short, the others even wondered if Ijin had learned anything from it. If it had been a misdial or maybe an automated phone call. But Ijin had learned something from the short phone call. “Understood.” He snapped his flip phone shut and stood up, disappearing into his room shortly.

“What’s going on?” Dayeon asked when he walked back out with a duffle bag, setting it down onto the floor as they had long used the table to block the front door.

“The others are waiting for us at the harbor.” They stared at him, Dayeon was the only one who understood what he meant by that, though no one could identify what he was pulling out of the duffle bag.

Her voice lifted in a way that no one had heard in days. “They’re waiting for us? Your friends?” he nodded, his hands still busy with the bag.

“Who’s waiting for us?” Seokju was the only one who dared to ask, his hand tightening around Yeona’s. “Ijin?”

He pulled out something that looked like a mess of buckles and straps, and a rope to go along with it. “Old teammates. They’re waiting for us at the harbor.” He jerked his head at Seokju, motioning for him to get up and join him by the balcony door. “If we can get there, they’ll get us out of here.”

Ijin asked Seokju if he knew how to use the rappelling harness that Ijin had for some god forsaken reason.

Jaehyung asked how the fuck they were supposed to get to the harbor.

The harbor was thirty minutes away by highway and they had seen what happened to the groups that tried to get out of the city on foot. They had heard them too, heard them in their last moments, screaming for a miracle to happen as they ran away. Their screams never lasted for long. They never knew if their screams stopped because they were able to hide and get away, but none of them held out hope for that.

How the hell were seven teenagers supposed to get there? It would take at least a few hours because they would have to be careful, beyond careful because none of them wanted to die.

“Seoul is lost.” Ijin said quietly, his hands stilling in his showing of Seokju how to use the harness. “They overheard the military's comms. We need to get out.”

“Ijin,” It was the first time that Yeona had spoken in days, she had spoken since the pick-up time her grandfather had arranged for her had come and gone, and her family as a whole had stopped answering the phone. “What do you mean?”

Ijin didn’t look at them, he didn’t change his expression, he just kept on moving his hands.

“It means we need to get out.”

.

They had packed light, because no matter what, they had to get to the harbor by the end of the day. They packed enough water for a day and enough food for a day. The only nonessential that was packed, was a single photo that had been swiped off the bookshelf and tucked away in Dayeon's bag.

Ijin hadn’t clarified what he meant by the military declaring Seoul as lost, but with his insistence to pack for a single day, they could connect the dots. They understood that live or die, they weren’t going to live to see another day if they didn’t make it to the harbor.

So, with the rappelling harness that Ijin had for no reason, they were able to bypass going down the apartment building through the inside entirely. They had taken turns going down, with Seokju staying at the top to help strap everyone in, while Ijin had gone down first to keep everyone safe and get them out of the harness as fast as possible.

They had heard multiple helicopters travel to the center of the city overnight. The sound of the blades had woken them right up, and the following shrieks of the zombies following them had kept them awake for the rest of the night. That allowed them to walk on an empty street in relative safety.

(Seokju refused to call them zombies because of his insistence that they weren’t living in a horror movie. He was the only one who had that sentiment.)

The helicopters had made multiple passes, and by the time they had stopped early morning, the streets had been cleared of zombies. Still, they made sure they were quick.

Ijin led the group, they kept the girls in the middle, and with Seokju taking up the back of the group, they made their way down the streets. The passes that the helicopters had made had led all of the zombies to the center of the city. All that was left were the burned remains of cars and people, and the occasional crawling zombie that taught them to stay away from the cars.

Thankfully, Ijin managed to sink the kitchen knife through the zombie's skull before it could have clamped down on Hyeokjin’s ankle.

They left the area quickly after that because Hyeokjin had let out a little yelp when the zombie grabbed him, and while that allowed Ijin to react fast enough, it also revealed their location. Helicopters be damned, those zombies were fast, faster than they had a right to be. The only ones that had a true chance of outrunning the damn things were Seokju and Ijin, something they would never do if it meant leaving the others behind.

Ijin ushered them into the nearby alleyway, directing them to hide behind the dumpster so they wouldn’t be in view from the street. “Two minutes.” Ijin whispered to them, carefully looking over each of them. He fixed Yeona’s jacket so it wouldn’t be so easy to grab. “Two minutes, and then we’re going. Seokju.” He pointed to the opposite end of the alleyway. Seokju nodded and then took off.

He didn’t get a chance to take up post at the other end before Seokju ran back to Ijin, a stern look on his face, and whispers went between them that were too quiet for the others to hear. Though they couldn’t hear the words, they could tell that it was something urgent, something that made Ijin stiffen up and tell Hyeokjin and Jaehyung to take his place.

They just watched as Ijin walked to the other end with Seokju. They watched as Ijin poked his head out of the alleyway to look at something to the right, and they watched as he saw something that made him freeze.

Seokju must have asked him something, because as Ijin brought himself back into the alleyway and stared up at the sky, he nodded and gave Seokju the knife.

Seokju stepped out of the alleyway, and returned within the minute, handing the knife and something else back to Ijin. Ijin pocketed it and walked back to them.

“Ijin,” Dayeon whispered when she saw the look on his face. She had seen that look before, when the man who raised him had died and he had tried to keep the grief to himself. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing.” Ijin said quickly, shoving his hand further into his pocket before he pulled it back out, his hand clenching into a tight fist once it was back by his side. “We need to go.” He said, speaking over Dayeon as he whistled quietly, motioning for everyone to follow him out of the alleyway.

He left the alleyway, not even waiting for Yeona or Dayeon to get off the ground so they could follow him. “C’mon.” Seokju urged them, pulling both of them to their feet and guided them to follow. “He’ll tell you later. We need to go.” They caught up quickly with Ijin, who had to be stopped by Hyeokjin and Jaehyung just so they could wait for them.

None of them said anything about the way Ijin had stopped looking at them, deciding to focus on the street ahead of them.

Whatever had happened, whatever Seokju and Ijin had seen, it had to be for later. They were about halfway to the harbor; they could deal with whatever had upset him so much when they got there.

“Hey!!” The shout made just about everyone jump out of their skin. “You mother- fuck you!! FUCK YOU!!” It was a woman screaming after a man, her voice shrill as a man ran off with a bag that he had clearly taken from her.

They froze when they heard the voices. The pair was far ahead of them, far enough that they weren’t noticed immediately. “Hide.” The fervent whisper from Ijin had all of them hiding, ducking behind cars and taking cover in store entryways.

They held their breaths. They were so close. They were on the last commercial block, and then they would be in the industrial block that was right next to the harbor. They were all so close.

They waited for there to be a shriek from a zombie, or the shuffling of feet. Just because the military had lured most of the zombies to downtown, it didn’t mean all of them were already there. They had gotten lucky so far, but that was because they had been traveling with minimal words between them. With the only sounds they produced were the sound of their footsteps and glass crunching under their feet. They had stuck to the sides of buildings, trying to make sure that they wouldn’t be easily spotted by monster or person.

The man ran past them on the other side of the street, not noticing them.

They all noticed the inhuman screech that started to echo off the buildings.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.” Jaehyung chanted to himself, shifting nervously on his feet. “Where is it coming from?”

“I don’t know! Shut up!”

“Ijin!”

“I know. Just wait.” Ijin motioned for them to wait, to hold their position because even though the zombie hadn’t stopped screaming, they still had no idea where it was coming from.

A scream erupted from the man who had run in the opposite direction.

That was their answer.

“Go! Go!” They took off before the zombie could realize that there were more humans in the area. It was already dealing with the man who had stolen the bag, and if they were lucky, then they would be long gone by the time it bothered to look for them. Last thing they needed was for more to show up because of the damn thing in the first place.

Ijin looked behind when he heard a yelp from one of the girls but kept on going when he saw Seokju helping Yeona up to her feet and quickly rejoined the group. Hyeokjin grabbed her hand and tugged her forward to help catch up with the others. “Where are we going Ijin?!” Jaehyung asked between gasps.

“Harbor 19.” Ijin gasped out. They were exiting the commercial district, and they were just starting to enter the industrial district. It should have been emptier there, as it was mostly full of automated assembly lines and warehouses, but they still weren’t going to start counting their ducks any time soon. They were almost there, but they could still hear the screaming behind them. Another shriek of a zombie had joined the first one, and they could hear the scream of the lady joining them.

“Ijin-!” Seokju called out to him.

“I know!” Ijin knew it, they were being chased, and even if they weren’t, they were going to run like they were.

Ijin heard the growl before he saw it and he barely had enough time to react to the zombie that came stumbling around a corner. Like all of the monsters, they had turned recently, the former man having a worker's uniform that had been stained with blood. His eyes had turned almost completely white, with the brown of his iris becoming pale as if the mucous membrane of his eyes had become infected and clouded. His mouth started snapping at them when he saw them running towards him. “Keep going!” Ijin took out his knife, knocking out the knees of the zombie before stabbing it in the head. The others had run ahead at that moment, and Ijin made sure he caught up.

Then Dayeon fell and she fell hard enough that she knocked the air out of herself. “Go!!” He snapped to the others, telling them to keep on going and although Yeongchan and Yeona hesitated, Seokju and Jaehyung were quick to shove them back into running.

Ijin pulled her up, uncaring of the way her breath was strained. “We’re almost there.” But she wasn’t getting up fast enough, and Ijin could hear footsteps approaching them, running towards them. “We need to go!” The only noise that Dayeon could make was a strangled gasp mixed with a squeak, but she was moving again. Her feet were back under her, and she was moving but not fast enough.

Fuck.

There were shrieks from up ahead, from where the others had gone and they had been cut short. Fuck. Damn it. Damn it.

They had been so close.

The footsteps got closer, they were going to be right around the corner that they were approaching and Ijin was already lifting up the knife. He wouldn’t lose Dayeon, he wouldn't lose her too. All she had to do was get to harbor 19 and the others would keep her safe. He didn’t know if his friends would survive, but Ijin knew that the Numbered would protect her as they protected him once upon a time.

A foot stepped around the corner, Ijin lifted up his knife, and swung it.

018 stepped under it easily and 008 kept him from swinging again. “There you are!” 018 sounded relieved, but also urgent. “Time to go!! Your friends are already on the boat!”

“Up we go.” That was the only warning Dayeon got as 008 scooped her right off her feet. “Time to go!”

018 lifted up his gun, it had a silencer on the end, and shot at something behind them. Time to go indeed.

“Let's go.” Ijin agreed.

They ran together, Dayeon cradled in 008’s arms, the three of them running down the harbor. “They’re coming!” Dayeon could see them coming up from behind over 008’s shoulder. The shrieks had multiplied behind them, and they would have known that they were being chased even if Dayeon had said nothing.

“we’re almost there!” They were almost there. Ijin knew his way around that harbor after meeting up with the Numbered there the past few times. They were almost there; they just had to turn that last corner and-

The sound of 016's rifle made Ijin want to duck down instinctively, but he forced himself to keep on running, even as each shot left a thud in its wake. The boat was already pulling away.

“Run you useless bastards!” 004 had his hand extended out to them, as did 002 and Seokju. “Fucking run faster!!”

“Catch!!” Dayeon shrieked when 008 tossed her across the divide, 002 catching her and stumbling out of the way to put her down. 032 started to rev up the engines on the boat, warming it up so they could leave as soon as the others were on.

Ijin and 018 didn’t say anything as 008 picked them up under his arm and jumped the gap with ease.

The boat rocked with the impact, and multiple hands scrambled at them to make sure none of them fell back into the water. “You guys were cutting it real fucking close, you know that!?” 004 snapped out. “Any of you guys bit? Any scratches?” Breathlessly, they all shook their heads. Other than Dayeon taking that fall, they were fine.

For a few seconds, all they could do was breathe on the deck of the boat, but when Ijin heard the sound of splashing behind him, he couldn’t help but look up.

A small crowd had formed behind them. A small group of twenty zombies. A group that would be easy to deal with firearms, but a group big enough to destroy them with their lack of training and weapons.

Hell.

Ijin almost couldn’t believe that they made it. After running for their lives for so long, Ijin almost couldn’t believe they still had their shoes on. They had been running in a dead sprint that even Ijin found difficult to maintain. Their lack of solid nutrition from the past few days had only made it harder on everyone.

He didn’t get a chance to relax as his hand flew to his pocket, his heart jumping into his throat when he realized that he had completely forgotten about the ring. Still on his knees, Ijin stuck his hand into his pocket and felt utter relief wash over him when he felt it in his pocket.

Ijin wasn’t religious, but thank god…

He looked around the boat.

Jaehyung, Hyeokjin, and Yeongchan were sitting together, 016 offered a water bottle to each of them. Seokju and Yeona were also sitting together, the two of them holding onto each other as they both lost their composure. The weight of the past week started to hit everyone, and Seokju was holding onto Yeona just as tightly as Yeona was holding onto him.

“Ijin,” and Dayeon was right next to him, 018 had pulled out the medkit to start taking care of her scraped hands and knees. “Are you alright?”

Swallowing thickly, Ijin nodded.

He was okay and so was his sister.

He didn’t lose her either.

Her eyebrows scrunched together. “Are…you sure?”

Unable to say anything, he nodded again and despite himself, he couldn’t stop the tear from slipping down his cheek, one that he quickly wiped away. Dayeon started to say something, probably another question if he was okay, but without saying anything, he pressed the ring into her hand.

A strangled sob escaped her when she saw their Grandfather's wedding ring in her hand. “Seokju made sure.” He didn’t need to say anymore, because she could connect the dots. She was smart. They had only stopped once in the journey to the harbor, and Ijin hadn’t had their Grandfather's wedding ring when they left the apartment.

Dayeon started shaking, and without a second thought, Ijin pulled her into his arms. He needed the comfort as much as she did.

They were the only ones left of their little family.

The sound of something being set onto the deck next to them made Ijin look up, and it was 002 setting down a small bag of ration bars and water bottles next to them. He offered no comfort beyond that, but Ijin still took comfort in the sight. He took comfort in his friends consoling each other, and in his past teammates talking to each other.

Their grandfather was gone.

But with them, with his friends and teammates. Ijin knew they would be fine.

He tightened his hold around his sister, paying no mind to the sobs that made both of them shake as he leaned his head against hers.

With time, they were going to be fine.

.