SHADOWS OF SURVIVAL: HAMIN'S REVELATION

Sae Joon Hyun winced as his hand instinctively went to his forehead, where a deep cut had formed after his sudden and reckless stop. His eyes were strained, and the pain radiated through his skull, but he pushed it aside, trying to focus on the situation at hand. Blood trickled down from the wound, winding down his face and dripping toward his eyes, but he barely noticed.

“Ugh… I’m sorry,” Sae Joon Hyun mumbled under his breath, his voice hoarse as he continued to keep his grip on the steering wheel. His eyes, though clouded with pain, remained focused on the front of the bus.

He motioned with a flick of his hand, guiding the group’s attention to something out the front window. “Look.” His voice was weak, almost like he wasn’t fully present, as he pointed. The others, confused, followed the line of his sight and immediately froze. On the empty road ahead, there was a figure—just a boy, lying motionless.

"Why do we keep meeting people like this?" Yon muttered under his breath, almost sarcastically.

Sae Joon Hyun didn’t reply. Instead, he pulled himself out of his seat, his head throbbing as he made his way toward the seat behind the driver’s, the blood still dripping down his forehead. Eunhye, instinctively concerned, reached out to him and tried to examine his injury. She gently cupped his head in her hands, glancing over the open cut with care.

“Nah, it’s good,” Sae Joon Hyun said quickly, his voice pushing her away with a tone of force, as if he didn’t want to admit the extent of his injury. His pride was still intact, despite the circumstances.

Eunhye sighed, frustration bubbling just under the surface. She trudged back to the steering wheel and began to reverse the bus, her eyes flicking back and forth between the road and the boy lying ahead. A loud bang suddenly echoed from the front of the vehicle, causing her to jump.

She glanced back and forth nervously, but all she could see was the boy. There was nothing else to explain the noise.

Minutes passed. The group remained in a tense silence, unsure of what to expect. The atmosphere inside the bus was suffocating, the only sound being the engine’s hum and their collective breaths. Suddenly, several dark shadows began to appear, creeping slowly from beneath the bus like they had been waiting for just this moment.

“Th—They’re here…” Eunhye’s voice trembled, her eyes wide as the shadows grew closer. She knew what this meant. The boy, still lying on the road, pushed himself to his feet with unnerving ease. His right arm hung awkwardly by his side, and his left hand tightly gripped onto a rusty, blood-stained shaft. The original color of the weapon was barely discernible, as if it had been through too much for it to even retain its purpose.

The boy’s movements were deliberate, slow at first, but with each passing second, the tension in the bus grew.

“Shit... What do we do now?” Yon asked, his teeth clenched as he shifted in his seat, trying to gain some semblance of control.

The boy, standing firm on the road before the bus, pointed the rusty shaft at the masses of figures approaching. He exhaled deeply, and the moment his feet shifted, the creatures reacted violently. They rushed toward him like a tidal wave, their movements unnaturally fast, driven by hunger and an animalistic frenzy.

The man—no, the boy—was ready. He shifted and danced through the crowd with a grace that didn’t belong to a survivor of this world. He wielded the shaft like a weapon of precision, striking down the creatures with swift, powerful thrusts. His movements were fluid, like that of a trained martial artist, moving through them with ease.

In-Ha and the others watched in stunned silence, their mouths agape at the display of raw talent and terrifying efficiency.

“What the...” Yon whispered, unable to tear his gaze away. “Who is he? Not to be rude, but… I actually thought he was dead.”

“Oh, you too, Yon?” In-Ha replied, her voice tinged with disbelief. “That’s exactly what I thought…”

“Really, Miss In-Ha?” Yon asked, his eyes flickering nervously. “He did look that way, though… Seems he’s alive.”

“Seems so.” In-Ha nodded, still unsure of what to think. She then called out to the boy, her voice rising over the chaos of the battle unfolding in front of them. “Heyyy! You!! Who are you?”

The boy, now fighting off the creatures with unmatched skill, heard her loud call and briefly glanced toward the bus. He sighed, clearly tired, before offering a small, helpless shrug.

“Hamin,” the boy muttered, his voice calm yet tinged with exhaustion.

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” In-Ha yelled, her frustration mounting as she barely made out his lips moving.

“HAMIN!” The boy responded louder this time, as if trying to make himself heard over the clamor.

“Hamin... What are you doing here?” In-Ha asked, her voice barely steady, still trying to make sense of this strange encounter.

“What do you think I’m doing, ma’am?” Hamin replied, his voice tired but resolute. “I’m trying to survive here.”

His words were tinged with the reality of their grim situation. As he continued fending off the creatures, the bus was completely surrounded. Many of the zombies had climbed onto the roof, and the bus began rocking violently under their weight.

Eunhye gripped the seat tightly, trying to steady herself. The creatures tore open the roof with their brute force, their limbs hanging out of the broken panels, blood and bone visible in grotesque detail. The violence of it all made her stomach churn. They were trapped.

“Shit! Now what?” Yon asked, his voice tight with fear as he frantically searched for any way out. His hands shook, his teeth clenched as he eyed the chaos around them.

In-Ha quickly grabbed the bags from her seat. The loud noise of the rustling drew the creatures’ attention, and they immediately turned toward her, their movements fast and erratic.

“Argh!” Eunhye screamed, panic rising in her chest.

Sae Joon Hyun reacted immediately, kicking the door open and pulling Eunhye with him, his blood still streaming down his forehead. Yon and In-Ha followed without hesitation, but as they moved, the creatures were quick to follow. They were right on their heels, and the bus was no longer a safe haven.

They ran toward Hamin, who was still fighting with everything he had. The boy glanced around for shelter but found none. No vehicles, no weapons, no options left. Only the bus, which had become their battlefield.

“We need to get back in the bus!” Yon shouted, his panic rising.

“I know we need the bus to leave here, but those things have made it their habitat right now,” Sae Joon Hyun whispered, the weight of his words pressing down on him.

“I know. But there’s no other safe option,” Yon insisted, his eyes darting around desperately.

“We can just run away from them,” Eunhye added, but her words lacked the confidence they once had. “Our move was completely impulsive just now, so there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“That Hamin boy is tired, Noona,” Yon said, his voice low, eyes filled with concern. “And even you know these things are evolving. You saw how they broke the ceiling with their bare hands.”

“But—” In-Ha started, but Yon cut her off.

“If those things get a hold of us, we’ll get crushed,” Yon said, his voice steady, though it betrayed his own fear. “Hamin’s fending them off right now, so this is the only chance we have to take his help and get away from here.”

“I think—” In-Ha started again, but Yon shook his head.

“Only a vehicle can outrun them.”

“Hah… Fine,” In-Ha said after a beat, her voice weary and strained. “Jeez, so much for a decision. So how do we get back there?”

“Hamin!” Yon called, tugging at the boy’s shirt.

Hamin, breathing heavily as he fought off the creatures, turned to face Yon, his exhaustion clear. “Let’s run toward the bus,” Yon said, his voice tight with urgency.

Hamin, his face creased with frustration, nodded reluctantly. It was clear that this was the only option they had. The creatures hissed as they crawled toward the bus, their movements erratic and unsettling.

Hamin threw his shaft forward, sending it through one of the creatures. The creature hit the ground with a sickening thud, pinned by the shaft as blood—green and thick—poured out, staining the road.

The others hissed and scrambled toward him, their heads bent unnaturally as they moved on all fours. Hamin kicked them away, his feet landing with precision, before running toward his weapon. The others, following him closely, had no choice but to trust him.

Hamin pulled the shaft from the creature’s body, and the monstrosity groaned, struggling to get up, but Hamin was already climbing the bus, tossing creatures out of the windows with practiced ease. His movements were quick, efficient, and surprisingly graceful, given the chaotic nature of the situation.

But even the most skilled warrior has their limits. A moment of distraction, a slip of his foot, and Hamin fell to the ground, his back hitting the pavement with a thud.

Yon climbed in immediately, spraying water in front of the remaining creatures. The sound of the water startled them, buying Hamin precious moments to stand up and regain his composure. The creatures hissed and recoiled from the sound. Some crawled onto the roof, escaping through the hole they had created earlier.

Hamin continued his work, tossing the remaining creatures out of the windows one by one. Finally, In-Ha climbed in, followed by the others. Sae Joon Hyun slammed the door shut and started the bus, speeding away.

They drove for what felt like hours, pushing the bus to its limits. Only when the creatures were no longer visible did they finally allow themselves to relax. The bus was eerily quiet as they slumped into their seats, exhausted, their minds still racing from the events that had just unfolded.

“Why didn’t we do this before?” Eunhye asked, her voice tinged with frustration. “Why did we run out of the bus?”

Hamin lay flat on his seat, gasping for breath, his grip still tight on his shaft as if it was the only thing keeping him grounded. In-Ha glanced over at him, her eyes scanning his form. Her gaze lingered on him, the discomfort in her chest palpable.

“Ugh. What is it, ma’am?” Hamin asked, noticing her stare.

“Who the heck are you? How come you fight them so well?” In-Ha asked, her voice laced with genuine curiosity.

“What do you mean? I’ve been fighting them for over six months now. Of course I’m good at it, considering the experience and everything,” Hamin replied, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Six months?” In-Ha repeated, her surprise evident in her voice.

“What? What’s with that reaction?” Hamin said, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Where are you from, boy?” In-Ha asked.

“Gangnam.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

Hamin sat up, his body aching from the constant battle. He knew he had a long story to tell, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to share it yet.

“Fighting them off... me and my friends reached the train station,” Hamin began. “We climbed the train and reached the outer city. We’ve been running around in a jeep since then, until an unfortunate horde of those things caught us off guard, and we were separated.”

He paused, his eyes briefly flickering with pain. “And as if all that wasn’t enough, a month ago, me and my other friend—the only one who was with me after our gang was split up—got lost too. I’ve been looking for her since then, and that’s when I reached here. And that’s when you found me.”

The group was silent for a long moment, each of them processing the story they had just heard, each of them thinking about their own struggles in this nightmare they were now living.