~Y/n pov~

A hand pulled back the cover and Gwi-nam stepped through.

He smirked at us.

He was holding up a zombie and using it as a shield.

Gwi-nam climbed over the railing and tried to get Cheong-san.

I kicked back more zombies as they got through the barrier.

Cheong-san smacked Gwi-nam around the head with a music stand but it had no effect.

Gwi-nam just laughed at him.

I ran over and tried to shove him back.

He grabbed my wrist and squeezed it tightly.

It felt like it was gonna break.

Tears stung my eyes.

Gyeong-su grabbed Gwi-nam's hand the pulled it off my wrist before shoving at him.

We both pushed him with all our strength which made him go stumbling down the stairs.

I heard a cracking noise as if there was a fire.

Did someone set the school on fire?

Suddenly, the door clicked the opened.

We all rushed through it and locked it behind us so no one could follow us.

There was a helicopter near us.

We all jumped up and waved things around, trying to get its attention.

It didn't notice us and it just flew off.

On-jo started crying when she realised we weren't rescued.

The helicopter was gone.

There was a banging noise and I could still hear Gwi-nam's heartbeat.

He was trying to breakdown the door. Luckily, it seemed to have no effect.

I knew he eventually gave up when he walked away.

Though, I get the feeling it isn't over yet.

~*~

The person who was here before made an SOS sign but it was tiny.

We were all grabbing bits of furniture and junk to try and make it bigger.

Why is all this shit on the roof in the first place? If it rains, it will get wet.

Joon-yeong climbed up the ladder to get to the higher part of the roof and instructed us on where to put things and what to do.

This went on for several minutes until he decided he was satisfied.

A few people climbed up to ladder to look at what they'd done.

"What does SOS mean anyway?" Dae-su asked On-jo.

"It's a distress signal."

Dae-su huffed, "I know that. What does is stand for?"

"It doesn't stand for anything. SOS is just SOS." On-jo told him.

"That makes no sense."

"Why'd you ask if you're not gonna believe me?" On-jo crossed her arms.

"Actually," I cut into the conversation, "It doesn't have an official meaning but now it's normally associated with save our ship or save our souls."

Dae-su gave On-jo an annoyed look, "See, it does mean something."

"We should make a fire." Gyeong-su suggested, "It'll be night time soon and that means it'll be cold. It doesn't look like we're being rescued anytime soon."

We all got to work and started to collect firewood so we could try and start a fire.

~*~

I watched as they tried to get the fire going.

Joon-yeong span a stick between his hands and tried to create friction.

"You'll get tired. Slow down." Dae-su instructed.

Wu-jin whacked him, "The fire won't start if he goes slowly."

"Ah.. cramps." Joon-yeong groaned and dropped the stick.

"I'll do it." Dae-su rotated the stick so slowly it was like a joke.

"Hey, should we kill him?" Wu-jin asked Joon-yeong.

I watched for a few more moments.

They did almost light it.

"Hey, I have a lighter." I stated, pulling it out of my pocket.

They all stared at me with annoyed looks.

Su-hyeok grabbed and lighter and lit the fire.

"Why do you have a lighter anyway? You don't smoke." Cheong-san raised an eyebrow at me.

"In case I need to set things on fire." I answered simply.

He raised an eyebrow, "What would you need to set on fire?"

"No comment."

"Thanks." Su-hyeok handed me back the lighter.

~*~

Night had fallen.

We all sat around the fire to stay warm as it was freezing.

At least we have plenty of wood with all this junk on the roof.

We still need food though.

I furrowed my brows in thought. I was in a world of my own.

A hand touched my arm, making me jump.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Gyeong-su smiled but I could tell he was being serious.

"I'm worried about food."

"Can we worry about that tomorrow?" Gyeong-su quietly whined in response, "It's dark now and I know you're super tired."

We stopped our whispering as everyone else sat around the fire began to talk.

It's like in movies when they go camping.

Gyeong-su pulled me into his lap and shuffled into the circle everyone had created around the fire.

I leaned back against his chest and his arms wrapped around my waist to hold me in place.

I felt grounded and safe.

Also I was really tired.

"Dae-su... how was your audition?" Su-hyeok asked to break the silence.

Dae-su scoffed in response as he leant his cheek against his fist, "They said I have to lose weight."

"Well, you're a good singer." Su-hyeok smiled before requesting him to sing for us.

Dae-su sighed, "Just forget it. I don't want it."

"I actually really like that song." Joon-yeong cut in.

This made Dae-su sit up straight, "Is that so?"

"It'll cheer us up." Wu-jin added.

Dae-su cleared his throat before he started to sing, "Let's go once it's over. Let's go anywhere. Once we're done studying twelve hours a day. Once the annoying sounds are over. Let's go hand in hand. Let's not run."

Dae-su was a really good singer. His voice was so soft.

A few others started to join in and sing.

"Let's try walking slowly. Is that drool or swear pooled on the book? No one noticed the plop, plop. The plop, plop. The falling rain drops. What is boiling? Simmer, simmer. It's Mum's doenjang stew. Mm-hm, a bowl of instant noodles in front of the television which plays nothing but static. Let's go anywhere together."

I smiled sadly. This moment was nice.

Although with the way things are, I don't know if any of us will ever survive.

So I'm grateful for moments like this.

Everyone continued to talk about their experiences until they got tired.

I sighed tiredly and rubbed my eyes.

Eventually, it got quiet and everyone started to go to sleep.

Most people stayed near the fire.

I laid on my side.

Gyeong-su laid behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist as he curled his body around mine.

He was nice and warm.

I curled up and turned to face him with a bit of difficulty as his arms were tightly wrapped around my waist.

I was just about to close my eyes and relax but my eyes snapped open when I heard a strange sound.

There was a familiar heartbeat.

I quickly sat up.

"What's that noise?" Gyeong-su sat up too and looked around in confusion.

All of a sudden, Gwi-nam jumped over the wall and onto the roof.

Did he climb from the outside?

On-jo backed away from him.

Gwi-nam grabbed On-jo's face, muffling her yells.

Cheong-san shot up, "On-jo!"

Gwi-nam let go of On-jo when he saw Cheong-san and threw her aside.

They both charged at each other.

Cheong-san got knocked down as Gwi-nam sat on top of him and pinned him down.

The bully moved his thumb towards Cheong-san's eyes and tried to gouge it out as Cheong-san struggled against him.

Su-hyeok was up in an instant as he shoved Gwi-nam off him.

Nam-ra's bones began to crack with made me cringe and one of her eyes turned red.

She charged into the battle and rivalled Gwi-nam's strength.

He mustn't have been prepared for it as he stumbled back in surprise as Nam-ra equalled his strength.

I watched with wide eyes as Nam-ra single-handedly dealt with him.

She managed to fling him over the edge as he tried to attack someone else.

We watched as he disappeared over the edge of the roof.

I don't even think that killed him.

He'll probably be back... again.

It seems like it's really hard to kill zombies.

I guess it would have to be a killing blow.. straight through the heart or the head.

It seemed like some people were unable to fall asleep now because they were filled with adrenaline.

Everyone positioned themselves so they were sat around the fire again.

I just laid down again, resting my head in Gyeong-su's lap.

He ran his fingers through my hair absentmindedly.

"I hear a helicopter." Su-hyeok perked up and looked into the sky.

True to his words, a helicopter did appear.

It shone it's light on us as it hovered over the roof.

Some men jumped out of it and ordered us to get down.

Everyone knelt on the floor and waited as they took our temperature.

Were we finally going to be saved?

I held my breath as he took mine and Gyeong-su's temperature.

He had almost no reaction to our colder than usual temperatures.

After he finished taking temperatures, he got out blankets and placed them over me, Gyeong-su and Nam-ra.

"Three of them have hypothermia." He said over the radio, "Everyone else is normal."

He paused as he listened to what the other person said.

"Rescue them after your reach the objective."

"Are you the only survivors?" The man asked.

We don't really know..." Cheong-san trailed off, "There are probably others."

"We're going down for a few minutes. Wait right here." One of the soldiers instructed.

"You're not gonna rescue us?" Ji-min asked.

"No, we are. So don't go anywhere. Just wait here."

We waited as they peered over the edge of the roof and prepared their equipment to jump over and climb down.

"We're all set." One of them spoke.

They disappeared over the edge of the roof and we could hear loud gunfire.

Are we finally going to be rescued?

I don't care about me... but the others. As long as they are rescued... I don't care.

"Are they gonna kill all the zombies before they take us?" Dae-su asked curiously.

Joon-yeong shook his head, "I don't think so. There's only four of them."

"But they're special mission, right?"

"Are they looking for something?"

What would they be looking for?? Perhaps a cure.

I mean, the zombie virus seemed to originate here.

Hyeon-ju was the first to have it as far as we know.

And before she fainted she said the science teacher locked her up.

Could the science teacher have made the virus?

If so... all of his research must be there.

Though I'm not sure if a cure exists.

"Maybe... they're looking for information on how the virus was created..." I spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Dae-su furrowed his brows.

"Well, Hyeon-ju was the first infected and she said the science teacher locked her up. So didn't the science teacher create the virus?" I told them everything I knew, "Or at least that's what I think."

There was a stunned silence as they took in the information.

The soldiers climbed back onto the roof, "Everyone. Grab onto the rope, one at a time. We'll pull you up."

Ji-min was the first person to approach the rope.

One of the soldiers went up first.

One of the soldiers paused and listened to what the person was saying on the other side of the radio.

"Don't rescue anyone. We just discovered a case as asymptomatic."

"But their temperatures are fine."

"So is the girls who we rescued before."

"Understood. Over."

I managed to hear the other side of the conversation.

So... we weren't going to be saved?

My heart dropped as I looked at the others crest fallen faces as they watched the helicopter leave.

Gyeong-su wrapped his arms around me to keep me warm and comfort me.

It's over. There's no hope for us, is there?

~*~

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2075 words

A/n all hope is lost. Or is it?