ECHOES OF TERROR: THE BEAST WITHIN

The group stood in the dim glow of the shattered streetlights, their breaths still uneven from the escape. Yunha was the first to break the heavy silence, her voice trembling slightly as she glanced at Sae Joon Hyun.

“So that means... they were making the zombies deliberately look like us. But why?” she asked, her gaze filled with unease.

Sae Joon Hyun shrugged, his expression weary but resolute. “There are many things we don’t know ourselves. Why are they capturing us? When did they establish this building? What’s the reason behind keeping zombies and people captive together? But one thing is clear—we were guinea pigs in their experiment. What that experiment is, however, remains beyond our knowledge.”

Yunha frowned, processing his words. “Right, so we know nothing,” she murmured.

“Exactly,” Jeha interjected, his tone sharp with practicality. “Either way, we aren’t safe here.” His gaze scanned their surroundings, the shadows of the ruined city dancing menacingly under the pale moonlight. Zombies still roamed, their guttural snarls echoing faintly in the distance.

Jeha was the first to fully accept the gravity of their situation. While the others stood paralyzed by the weight of Yuri’s revelations, he had already moved past the shock. The terror, confusion, and fear had been absorbed, leaving only the cold determination to survive.

“We’ll have plenty of time to discuss this after we’re somewhere safe,” Jeha said firmly. He gestured to the darkness around them, where the faint snarls were growing louder. “Before we get surrounded, we need to move.”

Eunhye nodded but let out a frustrated sigh. “Last time, we got lucky. We found a car with the keys already in it.”

“But this time, no such luck,” Yuri added grimly.

“And we didn’t have the time to check,” Eunhye finished.

The group exchanged weary glances, their options dwindling. Jaeyeon finally broke the silence, his voice steady despite the tension. “What choice do we have? Let’s run. We’ll deal with anything that comes our way and find a place to lay low.”

The others nodded in reluctant agreement. They knew it was their only option.

The group moved cautiously, their footsteps muffled against the cracked asphalt. It wasn’t a full sprint—more of a jog, calculated and quiet. They remained hyper-aware, their eyes darting to every shadow, their ears straining to catch even the faintest sound of movement. The city was eerily quiet, but the occasional snarl or shuffle reminded them that danger lurked around every corner.

They crossed the roads, sticking close to the walls of buildings to avoid being seen. The tension was palpable, every creak of a distant shutter or scuffle of debris making them jump.

And then they saw it—a horde of zombies blocking their path. The creatures stood in a mass, snarling and drooling, their decaying bodies twitching as they detected movement. The stench of rot wafted toward the group, and their growls filled the air like a twisted symphony of death.

The group froze, their breaths catching as they took in the sheer number of undead. Time seemed to stop as they exchanged a series of quick, panicked glances.

The group stood frozen for a moment, their breaths shallow as they faced the horde of zombies ahead. Mina muttered under her breath, her tone filled with disgust. “I forgot just how revolting they looked.”

Eunhye glanced at Mina briefly before shifting her gaze back to the snarling mass of undead. Her voice barely a whisper, she turned to Yuri. “What do we do now?”

The sight before them was a horrifying echo of a nightmare they thought they’d left behind. The scene felt eerily familiar—like a grim déjà vu. A couple of years ago, they had faced a similar situation, surrounded by zombies on all sides in their base. Back then, there had been no way out, the zombies hemming them in from every direction. This time, they were lucky; for now, there was no immediate threat behind them. But how long would that last?

Su-yeong’s deep inhale broke the tense silence. She exhaled slowly, her fists clenching tightly at her sides. Her voice was steady and resolute, cutting through the fear like a blade. “Hamin, Yon, Jaeyeon oppa, and I are the only ones who can fight without worrying about getting bitten. The rest of you, back us up.”

Before anyone could protest or suggest another plan, Su-yeong surged forward. In one swift, brutal motion, she grabbed two zombies by their decaying heads and slammed them together with a sickening crack. Their bodies crumpled to the ground, lifeless, but the sound of their collision echoed loudly in the stillness.

The noise acted like a dinner bell for the fast-evolving zombies. Their snarls grew louder, more guttural, as they turned their attention toward the source of the sound—toward Su-yeong.

Without hesitation, Hamin, Yon, and Jaeyeon followed her lead. The trio rushed into the fray, their movements precise and calculated. Hamin’s fists collided with one zombie, sending it hurtling backward into the mass. Yon grabbed another by its rotting arm, spinning it with enough force to dislocate its limb before slamming it into the pavement.

Meanwhile, Jaeyeon stood eerily still in the middle of the chaos. His eyes were shut tight, his chest rising and falling in deep, deliberate breaths. Hamin and Yon continued to fight around him, tossing zombies aside like ragdolls.

And then it happened.

Jaeyeon’s eyes snapped open, glowing an unnerving crimson. The wound on his forehead, usually dormant, began to swell and pulsate as though alive. A guttural growl escaped his throat—a sound more beast than human—before he lunged at the zombies with terrifying speed and ferocity.

The group’s eyes widened in collective horror.

“What... what is... what…” Zera stammered, her voice trembling as she struggled to form coherent words. Her hands gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly, as if grounding herself from the surreal scene playing out before her.

Yuri had explained everything earlier—the existence of zombies that resembled them, Jaeyeon’s peculiar, almost monstrous transformations—but hearing about it and witnessing it were two entirely different experiences.

The others, like Zera, who had not seen Jaeyeon in this state before, stood frozen, terror etched into their faces. This was no longer the Jaeyeon they knew. This was something else entirely.

Yuri’s voice broke the paralyzing fear. “Stay together! Focus! We can’t afford to stand still!”

But even as her words urged action, the sight of Jaeyeon tearing through the horde with a vicious efficiency kept their feet rooted to the ground, their minds grappling with the reality of what they had become a part of.