Title: Stranger Danger

⚠Trigger Warning: mentions of blood, killing, and violence⚠

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     that hot burning feeling in the lungs when you're running as hard as you can, the footsteps of your pursuer echoing so much that you can't tell if they are near or just behind you, the fleeting blurred glimpse as you snatch a look behind.

     all of that occuring in one moment for a girl, trying her very best to run away from a group of dangerous people.

     the sudden terror of the blank brick wall made chaewon cower in the darkness with her heart hammering in her ears, listening to the click of fine Italian leather shoes drawing nearer and nearer and nearer.

     "you really think you can run away from us, huh? there's no way out of this hellhole..."

     chaewon continued backing up until she was pinned onto the brick wall. how unfortunate for her to run into a dead end, is that the reason why they call it with such name?

     the girl was about to make another run for it but was sadly caught and placed into a deep sleep.

     waking up she found herself in front of the school entrance, tied up in a chair with no other way to escape.

     what was happening? what were they doing? questions like that must be running through your mind by now.

     apparently, the school announced that there will be a sudden lockdown due to the purge that was supposed to happen at night time. unusual, i know but that was really happening right now.

     everything happened starting with people fighting in an airport. it was an absolute mess that officials can no longer handle them and instead let them proceed.

     after all, the president of korea announced that the purge indeed will happen but not in the morning. greedy people who have so much hatred to the world decided to disobey the president's orders and start the purge earlier than planned.

     it was sudden and very urgent that the students were given no chance to return back home.

     everyone inside the school were only given basic resources which includes food and water. they have spent weeks with nowhere to go that the resources given were getting fewer and fewer as days pass.

     if they don't find other resources that could help them in the middle of this lockdown, they'll die of hunger instead of the purge.

     the students discovered that the murderers mission was to kill anything in sight. in order to get out of the school, they decided to turn others into a sacrifice.

     chaewon was the unfortunate chosen one.

     sadly to those who have planned to include her in, gowon heard what they were planning and decided to run away.

     which is why she was placed into such scenario.

     "selfish rascals, there's surely another way around to get out of this situation," she muttered to herself.

     she got to admit, she was scared of what was waiting ahead of her. she is clearly not sure if she'll even live for more years.

     she still have her family waiting for her at their house, surely worried of her. what they didn't know is that their daughter is being sacrificed for those vicious humans that was the cause of all of this.

     chaewon wasn't sure on why they specifically picked her as the sacrifice. was it because none of them wanted to die? but chaewon doesn't want, too.

     oh. maybe she know now. her bullies slash haters were actually the one who planned to make her a sacrifice.

     chaewon sighed at the thought of that. she was too young to die.

     few minutes of being lost in her trance, loud footsteps were heard which made a big lump grew on chaewon's throat due to nervousness.

     for sure it was the people who started the purge since she could hear the guns cocking along with the bats slamming onto the wall.

     before they could even see chaewon on the front of the school, a loud bang from the nearest building can be heard which caught the killers' attention.

     following the sound, they immediately left the school area and check to see if there were people they could get rid off.

     for a moment, it finally made chaewon swallow the big lump on her throat as a huge gush of air escaped its way out of her mouth.

     numerous bead of sweats drew from her forehead down to her cheeks. she had been biting the insides of her cheeks due how anxious she was since the chasing scene happened and she swore that it might already be bleeding.

     her breathing finally calmed down after some few seconds not until her heart felt like jumping out of her chest with her breathe getting unstable once again as she panicked when a person shushed her with their fingers.

     a girl popped on chaewon's view, a mask covered half of her face which made it hard for her to recognize who she was as the unknown girl quickly but gently unties the rope around chaewon.

     "be quiet as much as possible, they're just a few blocks away..."

     chaewon faltered to reply, her gaze drawn right at the other girl's face. sweats running down her face as she busied herself with untangling the ropes around her.

     it took a lot more time than expected as the rope finally went loose, making chaewon heave a deep sigh before flailing her arms around the girl who just saved her from the edge of death.

     "thank you..." no matter how unclear that came out due to how unstable chaewon's breathing was, the girl exactly felt the gratitude.

     gently pushing chaewon off from her body, the girl held her wrist, whispering, "let's get out of here before they find us."

     another girl with short hair popped along with a tall guy as they were both panting due to running. she approached the girl by chaewon's side, speaking in a breathy way, "we need to be quick. jake and yeonjun won't be able to fight off those jerks that longer."

     "ryujin, why is hendery with you? didn't we planned that he'll help the two distract those snakes?"

     ryujin scratched her head, thinking of an excuse but the man beat her to it, "look, i don't do killing but i'll be a great help in leading the way."

     "well then lead the way, smartass."

     hendery nodded his head, running towards the school gate with the three girls following closely behind.

     before they could even get out of the school, a loud fire from a gun was heard, making the three stop from running.

     looking back, they saw the gang who chased chaewon earlier as they speed walked their way towards them.

     "oh for the love of god, run!"

     hendery yelled as he speeded outside the school, giving no time for the others to react, they almost stumbled their way out nonetheless ran like a wind.

     the unknown girl caught up with hendery, still with chaewon getting dragged behind, "who in the hell are they?!"

     "i don't know! i passed by them and ran, i think they followed me towards you guys."

     despite running, ryujin was still able to smack the man's head really hard as she looked at him dead in the eyes, "you dumbass! this is why people like you will most likely die in this kind of situation!"

     looking back, they found that the gang were catching up with them making them wide their eyes in horror. this was bad. very bad.

     in a street were only their unstable breathing were heard, another loud crack breaks in the sky as they looked behind them once more.

     they realized that the people who started the purge were chasing after them as well since one guy was on the floor with his head disgustingly smashed.

     in a distance, chaewon examined the dead body in horror. it was her first time seeing such horrible sight.

     he was dead, that was for sure. someone beat his head with a baseball bat. his face was collapsed like a smashed pumpkin, remnants of the brain painted the curb.

     chaewon saw some of it crawl away which made her crunch her nose in disgust.

     there was tons of blood. maybe two gallons, possibly two and a half. the whole street was caked with stuff as the others were shot to death.

     the four of them began picking up their pace before turning left to some random apartment. well, that was what chaewon thought but the others were already seem familiar to this place so perhaps they have been here before or used it as their hideout.

     they climbed up to the third floor until they entered a secured room. secured enough for anyone not to barge in such cases like this.

     the girl finally let go of chaewon's wrist as she frustratedly growled, her hands running up to her hair expressing her disappointment.

     "how did those bastards caught up with us when i thought jake and yeonjun can handle them?"

     she exclaimed, finally removing her mask before plopping down the nearest chair.

     at last, chaewon finally saw her savior's face. despite being stuck in such situation, she was mesmerized by the girl's beauty as if everything was finally alright.

     the girl had black locks, pretty dark brown eyes, her eyebrows are well-shaped, her nose pointed in such a perfect manner with her lips glossy like natural.

     she's perfect, chaewon thought.

     noticing eyes directed at her, the girl stared back which made chaewon widen her eyes in surprise.

     before she could even speak, a bunch of silent footsteps were heard around the hall. the intruders were in, looking for them.

     "oh shi—"

     hendery cursed which got interrupted by 'chaewon's savior' when she placed her hand on the man's mouth to shut him up.

     the girl signalled ryujin to pass her the machete by the desk. throwing it to her, she swiftly caught it making chaewon look at her in amusement.

     she knew it wasn't the right time but she can't help herself from admiring the girl she just met today. not to mention, she saved her.

     the girl signalled the others to prepare themselves. this kind of act made chaewon shiver in fear. surely she doesn't know what would happen to them but her heart knew very well that she can rely on them.

     ryujin threw a pocket knife towards chaewon in which she barely caught it with two hands. it was all the cause of her nervousness, might as well add that she was mentally panicking.

     she gave her a pocket knife, does that mean she have to kill someone? chaewon can barely handle seeing blood. unless it was a buzzing mosquito that keeps bothering her, she'll never hesitate to make a kill.

     you can do this, chaewon, just imagine that they're all annoying mosquitos! she tried to console herself. her little sister would often be the one to do that to her but since they're away, she got nothing to do but do it herself.

     there was a minute of silence before the door was getting kicked down for a few times. chaewon can hear her own heart beat due to how she was silently panicking but hendery seems to be much more scared than her.

     chaewon looked at him with wide eyes, hendery had his hands balled up into a fist while holding a crowbar. he's holding such great weapon but it seems like he won't be using that any time.

     calling out to him, chaewon signalled hendery to switch weapons with ber in which the scared guy didn't hesitated to swap.

     once again, the girl gave them a sign. telling them that they should hide and attack. in that way, the opponent will lower their guards thinking that there were no one inside.

     with fear evident in their faces, they all furiously nodded their head in agreement as they quickly find their own place to hide.

     it was suddenly time to play hide and seek.

     chaewon decided to hide in a cabinet where she can exactly fit. it was such a common place to hide but it's much more better than hiding under a table.

     everyone were probably in their hiding spot. well, that's what chaewon thought. hendery didn't have his own hiding place yet, the poor guy was panicking too much he ends up hiding behind the entrance door.

     not even a minute or so, after some few more kicks, the door was successfully knocked down.

     unexpectedly, once more due to panic, hendery disturbingly slit someone's throat as soon as one of them entered.

     blood sprays from the neck nonstop; this act stained the walls and furniture in the room with crimson red blood.

     the sound of the blood mixing with the air escaping from the lungs created a gurgling sound. loud enough to fill the room, but not quite loud enough to be heard outside the room.

     the guy died instantly. his body went limp, fell to the floor and bled out. everything was exceptionally bloody, a gory mess it is.

     the three girls had their mouths wide opened along with their jaws dropped. hendery made such a bold move, but a risky one as well.

     with the sudden attack of hendery, it marked the beginning of the fight.

     the other two girls went out of their hiding spot, immediately went to support hendery in killing few other more.

     since ryujin had a gun, a long range weapon, she easily knocked her opponent down without getting close to them. although the others have guns too so she need to act fast.

     aiming her gun, she pulled the trigger as the body immediately collapsed. blood flows down the bullet hole that was shot on the head.

     the disgusting metallic smell of blood began to surround the room. due to how many blood the room is painted with, the reek of organs from the corpse were also smelt.

     chaewon was still in her hiding spot, hesitating to go out and risk her life. she can smell the blood that filled the room, she admit that it was nauseating. one of the reasons why she hates seeing nor smelling blood.

     she slowly and hesitatingly opened the cabinet door when a body collapsed right in front of her, causing her to screech in horror.

     the guy's neck has been slit, the head lays, eyes and mouth open at an unnatural and disturbing angle. the skin was discoloured due to blood loss. the blood that was sprayed from his neck were formed into a pool of crimson thick liquid around the dead body.

     "watch out!"

     chaewon heard a shout before another body laid in front. the girl who saved her earlier just saved her once again by throwing a knife to an unnoticed opponent.

     chaewon was mad about the fact that she can't thank the girl just yet because she doesn't know her name. oh how she wanted to ask her but they were always interrupted.

     the girl shook her head, focusing back to the others. somehow, this made chaewon feel guilty. she keeps bothering others just because she can't protect herself. she needs to act and defend for her own self.

     and by that, chaewon at last crawled away from her hiding spot and as if on cue, an opponent immediately run towards her with nothing but their well-built body.

     that big body went unnoticed when chaewon simply hit his head with her crowbar. she whacked the crowbar so hard to his head, she swore that she heard his skull crack and collapsed with just one hit.

     more and more of them kept arriving, it was a good thing that they're knocking them down in no time but the more they kill, the more of them comes in.

     if that keeps up, their energy will be drained and they'll see themselves in a worst case scenario.

     as if hearing their prayers, yeonjun and jake came for backup as they shot those who were about to attack their friends. this made them smile in relief, knowing that the two were still in one piece.

     with their great alliance and combined skills, they finished all of them at once. the room that was once painted with clear white is now mixed with the redness of the blood from the people they have killed.

     the smell was making them nauseous, they had to open the window like a random person just farted and nothing was completely wrong.

     multiple bodies lay on the floor with their own blood surrounding them. the six of them collapsed down the floor as well, not bothering if they are also bathed in blood.

     their own breathing was only heard in the room and nothing else, it surely drained their energy. how did they go from solving math problems to killing people? it was a sudden turn of events.

     after a few minutes of silence, one decided to break the ice, "i'm sorry, we didn't get to have a proper introduction." surprisingly enough for chaewon, it was the girl who have saved her multiple times in a day that was talking to her.

     reaching out her bloody hand to chaewon, she introduced herself with a warm smile.

     "i'm moon hayeon."

     finally, chaewon rejoiced in her mind as she long last know her savior's name now.

     seeing hayeon smile unknowingly made chaewon's lips curve up in a grin. extending her hand to hold the girl's hands, returning the favor, she introduced herself as well.

     "park chaewon."

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