chapter 7

Sa-Na and Ms. Park helped them all one by one into the room until only Cheong-San was missing. "Oi, Dickhead, hurry up, and try not to get bitten!" She called out to him, seeing him fighting a zombie. "A little busy right now," he mumbled as she rolled her eyes, listening as everyone tried to give him advice on how to get the zombie to stop clinging onto his leg. He continued to try to figure out ways to get it off while Sa-Na stepped further back into the broadcasting room, watching as everyone yelled instructions. Da-Hyun walked over to her friend, smiling softly as they waited for Cheong-San to enter the room. When he finally did make it, they rushed over to the window, helping him into the room. Sa-Na gasped as she realized who was with him: Suhyeok. "Holy shit," she mumbled as she stood in the room. She and Da-Hyun ran over to him, wrapping their arms around him quickly. When they let go, the group began to bombard him with questions about where he had been, what he was doing, and how he escaped. Sa-Na could only stare in shock at her best friend, happy that he was okay.Maybe there was hope. She turned to Cheong-San, surprising herself with her words. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly while the group was focused on Suhyeok. He paused in shock for a moment before composing himself and nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine," he told her, and she nodded, turning back around to face Suhyeok. Cheong-San stared at the girl, even when she'd turned around, and allowed a smile to make its way onto his face. That was the nicest she'd ever spoken to him before. A disturbance made them turn around and face Gyeong-Su and Na-Yeon, not even surprised that it was those two arguing. The girl had been pushed, and the boy stood over her angrily. "What the fuck happened?" Sa-Na mumbled to Suhyeok as the boy turned to his friend. "She called him a 'Welfie, and he lost it." He whispered quietly, and the girl sighed, knowing she shouldn't have called him that. "What did you just call me?" Gyeong-Su asked the girl.

as she looked up at him.

Cheong-San stepped over and began attempting to pullhim away from the girl. "Hey, come on."

Na-Yeon suddenly stood up and stepped towards the boy. "You just hit me?" She asked him in disbelief.

"Yeah," he replied, without a single ounce of regret. "Call methat again."

"Hey, knock it off." Ms. Park walked over to the two. "What's going on over here, guys?"

"He just hit me," Na-Yeon explained to the teacher.

"Only because you called me a welfie," Gyeong-Su defended.

"Is it not true?" Na-Yeon countered, her head held high as Sa-Na winced, knowing the girl was going to get it.

"You just can't say shit like that," Cheong-Su replied, shaking his head at the girl while Ms. Park looked in between them all.

"What's a welfie?" Ms. Park asked them, with nobody answering her and instead looking down at the ground. "Tell me. What is it? What's a welfie?"

Finally, Sa-Na was the one to break the silence that had been cast in the room. "It's a person on welfare," she explained, causing the teacher to turn around to her. Connect to the internet to load media.

confused, asking her to elaborate. "A person on welfare, or welfie for short."

Ms. Park shook her head and sighed, turning back around to face the two arguing teenagers. "Na-Yeon, that was wrong. Don't ever say that again. And Gyeong-Su, when you hit people, you're the one who ends up losing," Ms. Park told the two in a scolding tone. "Do you understand?"

"No, I don't," Gyeong-Su retorted.

"Listen, we can't be fighting each other in a moment like this.

" Ms. Park began. "We don't know what's going on out there with those." She paused for a moment.

"Are they zombies?" Da-Hyun asked her, interrupting the silence.

"What about the other teachers?" Ji-Min asked quickly.

"Has anyone called the cops?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure someone already has," Ms. Park responded, not sounding too sure herself. "I just don't have my phone on me right now."

"We called them, but they're not coming," Cheong-San explained. "Neither the police nor the first responders."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon," Ms. Park replied.

optimistically as ever.

"We just have to wait a little longer."

"Ms. Park," On-Jo interrupted, stating her theory, "Hyon-Ju's hands were cold too. So were I-Sak's. What if all of this started with Hyeon-Ju?"

"She went to the hospital," Hyo-Ryeong added.

"What if it spread there as well?" Wu-Jin asked.

"Maybe that's why no one's coming," she sighed.

"But wait. They still work, right?" Wu-Jin suddenly asked, pointing to the computer on the desk. "Uh, internet. The internet. Let's see. Sorry, Ms. Park."

While everyone was distracted by him starting up the computer, Sa-Na turned to her friend and slapped his shoulder. "Hey, what was that for?" He asked in disbelief, holding his arm.

"That's for making me think you were dead, you absolute dickhead!" She exclaimed, scowling as her friend grinned.

"Aww, you were worried." She cut him off with a kick to his ankle. "Hey!"

She waved at him, blowing a kiss, before noticing Nam-Ra approaching the two. "I'm going to go see what

They're doing it," she pointed to everyone looking at the computer and leaned closer towards Suhyeok's ear. "Don't embarrass yourself in front of your future wife."

"You little bitch," Suhyeok began but stopped when Nam-Ra stood in front of him.

"What did you do?" Da-Hyun asked as Sa-Na walked over to her with a grin on her face.

"Nothing. Nothing," she replied as her friend shook her head and chuckled.

Everyone began to argue over what they should look up to find out more about this zombie virus. After various discussions were finished, they figured out what to do, and they all watched in suspense, scrolling through Facebook. They saw a police car flip over while two people lay on the ground.

The glass of the window shattered, and everyone screamed in shock. Sa-Na bumped into the person behind her, which happened to be Cheong-San, again. She looked away awkwardly as he averted his eyes elsewhere. She was getting sick of falling into him and wondered if being a zombie would be better than this.

"What the hell?" Joon-Yeong asked, looking at the window in disbelief."Oh, shit."

The hose continued to smash against the window, and each smash caused the group to inch backwards a step.

"Get over here. Come here," Ms. Park demanded as the glass continued to smash.

"Did someone not make it in?"

"No. No one." Cheong-San took a step closer, and Gyeong-Su looked at him worriedly.

"Wait. Don't get too close!

"Be careful!"

He inched closer to the window, looking at the glass beneath his feet, before stepping closer and closer.

"Do you see anything?" Someone asked as he stared out

the window.

"It's just the wind," Gyeong-Su announced, waving his hand at the group.

Cheong-San tilted his head, looking out the window for a second but jumping back when he saw a zombie jump down, attached to the hose. The other students also jumped and screamed as the zombie snarled at them, attempting to get into the room to reach them all.

"Look, it's coming in! Watch out, watch out!" Dae-Su exclaimed to his friend, motioning for him to come.

"Cheong-San, get back. Get back here."

The boy leaped forward, grabbing a mop and using it to push the zombie backwards, despite everyone's loud protests.

Gyeong-Sy moved to help his friend, almost being bitten in the process. Da-Hyun wrapped her arms around her friend protectively as they watched in horror.

Suhyeok grabbed the mop, stabbing it into the zombie's shoulder blade, but somehow that didn't even phase it. The two fought against each other, the zombie greatly beating him until Gyeong-Su reached onto the desk, grabbed the computer, and threw it out the window.

The zombie was knocked to the ground, and everyone let out a breath of relief.

"Hey," Na-Yeon suddenly whispered after everyone confirmed they were okay now, looking over at Gyeong-Su. "You...

Sa-Na looked over and saw that his nose was bleeding.

"Gyeong-Su, you're bleeding," Cheong-San pointed out.

"I am?" he questioned, bringing his hand up to his nose, wiping the blood off it, and looking down at it. He scoffed and chuckled. "Right, it's because Suhyeok hit me with a fucking mop.""Stay back. Stay where you are,"

Na-Yeon exclaimed, glaring at the boy. "You were bitten, weren't you, Gyeong-Su?"

"I wasn't. I wasn't," Gyeong-Su confirmed, wiping the blood off his face. "Didn't you see Suhyeok hit me?" Na-Yeon

continued to step backwards, trying to put as much distance between him and her as possible. "What is your fucking problem with me?

"You were bitten!" She insisted while he scoffed. "I-Sak got a nosebleed just before she turned. On-Jo. You saw it, right? That's the same thing that happened to I-Sak."

"Gyeong-Su." Ms. Park suddenly walked towards him.

"I'm telling you! I swear I wasn't bitten!" He exclaimed before sighing in annoyance. "Shit!"

"Look. Your hand. Explain that?" Na-Yeon began, and Sa-Na fantasized what it would be like to throw her out of the window to the zombies, never hearing her insufferable complaining. "What is it?"

He looked down at his hand, finding three scratches together. "I got it from the computer. Didn't you see that?" He motioned to the computer and stepped towards them, scoffing when they all stepped backwards again. The only people who didn't move were Da-Hyun and

and Sa-Na, both staring at the boy confusedly.

"Don't you trust me? I can't believe this. I got this trying to save all of you."

"We do," Da-Hyun responded, stepping towards him.

"We believe in you." She motioned between her and Sa-Na.

He managed a small smile as Cheong-San walked over to him and grabbed his hand, looking down at the scratches. "It's not a bite," he confirmed to the group.

"It's a scratch. Whoever wants to check, come look."

The group rushed over to cautiously look at his hand, seeing that it was in fact not a bite but just a scratch. Da-Hyun and Sa-Na remained where they stood, choosing to believe what they said as the truth.

"Well, it really doesn't look like a bite," Ms. Park announced. "Thank God. It's a scratch. He's okay."

"Done yet?" Gyeong-Su questioned the girl who had accused him. "I said, are you done with me now?"

Gyeong-Su retorted.

"No, you did good. Thank you. Don't be mad," Dae-Su quickly replied. "Hey, Na-Yeon. Look. Say sorry. End this."

"Why should I?" Na-Yeon countered.

"Is this bitch serious?" Sa-Na whispered to Da-Hyun, getting sick of the girls whining.

"He did it to save us all." Dae-Su scoffed, also tired of the girl. "Why can't you just say that you're sorry?"

"Because I'm not sorry," Na-Yeon quipped. "I saw

everything. I saw the creature grab you. He could be

infected."

"Na-Yeon, enough," Ms. Park responded tiredly.

"It really did. That thing grabbed his hand." Na-Yeon insisted, and Sa-Na stood up, causing the girl to back away slightly.

"Can you for one minute put aside your petty hatred for him? Not everything is about you." Sa-Na stepped closer to the girl, cornering her against the wall. "We are all struggling here, and none of us are starting fights with each other."

"Wait. This means the computer's gone." Someone interrupted, looking down at the keyboard.

"No internet..." Dae-Su mumbled. "Couldn't you have

thrown something else instead of the computer? " "What was I supposed to do? It was trying to get in."

"But I saw it," Na-Yeon began.

"Enough for fuck's sake!" Sa-Na exclaimed.

"Wait, can touching his hand infect him?" Cheong-San asked.

"I have no idea, but maybe," Na-Yeon told him.

"I held I-Sak's hand when she fell," On-Jo explained to them. "Why is nothing happening to me?"

"Because he has a cut on his hand, and since there's an open wound, it's probably going to be different." Na-Yeon continued to state her theory while Sa-Na stepped away, throwing her arms in the air. She had to get away from that girl before she punched her.

"That's fucking-."

"Don't." Suhyeok held his friend back from hitting the girl.

"Stop blaming me. Why don't you just think of yourselves?"

Na-Yeon continued while Sa-Na made her way into the recording room. She couldn't be around that girl any longer, or she would do some damage.

She waited there for a couple minutes until the door opened and Gyeong-Su stood by the door, walking into yourselves.

"Na-Yeon continued while Sa-Na made her way into the recording room. She couldn't be around that girl any longer or she would do some damage.

She waited there for a couple minutes until the door opened, and Gyeong-Su stood by the door, walking into the room. Hey, are you alright?" Sa-Na asked softly as he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going to wait in here for half an hour until I prove I'm not a fucking zombie," he explained to the girl.

"Me and Da-Hyun believe you; Na-Yeon is just a self-centered bitch," Sa-Na explained as she walked over to the door.

"I'll see you in an hour, all right? Then you can watch as I slap Na-Yeon for being such a bitch."

She shot him a grin.

"See you in an hour," Gyeong-Su replied, sending her a matching grin as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.