#1. School

While we were busy forming our disgusting alliance, the bitten guy was desperately trying to act like he hadn’t been infected.

He crawled toward Yoon Si-chan, his voice shrill with desperation.

“H-Hey! Guys! I wasn’t bitten! It’s just an injury, just a wound!”

“Bullshit! You knew you were bitten, so why the hell did you come in? Trying to get us all killed?”

I held the broom horizontally, shoving it toward his face as I stepped back. Up close, the bite mark was even clearer.

Damn zombie bastard!

Tears welled up in his terrified eyes before he suddenly lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Yoon Si-chan’s left leg.

Ugh. What if just touching him is enough to spread the infection? I grimaced and backed away from the two walking biohazards.

Yoon Si-chan stood motionless, leaning slightly on his bat like a cane as he looked down at the guy.

“Si-chan! P-Please, just let me live…! Maybe it’ll be okay even if I was bitten…! Immunity, I—ugh!”

Before he could finish, Yoon Si-chan straightened his stance and drove his foot into the guy’s gut.

As he doubled over, coughing, Yoon Si-chan raised his bat and aimed it at his head. The soon-to-be zombie let out a panicked shriek, arms flying up to shield his face.

“You can either walk out on your own or dragged out.”

Yoon Si-chan stopped his bat just inches from his face and gestured toward the back door with a nod.

The guy finally broke down sobbing, eyes darting around frantically before landing on me.

“Ta-Taejung, please, I—”

“Shut the fuck up, dumbass. Get out. Now. Or do you wanna die?”

I stumbled backward, trying to put distance between myself and the bastard crawling toward me. The curses I spat out were shaky and unsteady.

I had no idea when he’d turn into a zombie and pounce, and to be honest, I was scared shitless.

Why the hell wasn’t Yoon Si-chan just beating him up and throwing him out already? Why give him a damn choice? Like he’d actually leave on his own.

The guy, eyebrows drooping in a hopeless expression, suddenly twisted his body and started clawing at his own arm. He scratched at the bite mark like a madman, digging into his own flesh until he coughed up blood with a groan.

Shit. We’re fucked.

I jumped onto a desk, gripping my broom tightly in front of me, ready for anything.

Yoon Si-chan, however, simply stepped closer, raised his bat, and slammed it down on the bastard’s head.

“Agh! Aaagh!”

With a loud thud, his face hit the floor. His screams were already starting to mix with that low, guttural growl unique to zombies.

Yoon Si-chan’s movements didn’t falter. With clean, precise strikes, he continued beating the guy senseless. The sound of metal smashing into a skull rang out repeatedly, and the bitten guy’s limbs began contorting in that grotesque way only zombies did.

Then, as he stomped down on the zombie’s back and kept swinging, Yoon Si-chan suddenly lifted his head and looked at me.

A few drops of blood had splattered onto his right cheek.

His eyes, filled with nothing but raw intensity, made my shoulders tense involuntarily.

He gestured toward the zombie, then looked back at me.

It was as if he was saying, You’re not gonna help, asshole?

Yeah, fuck that.

What if the blood splattered on me and turned me into a zombie? You handle it.

I just gripped the broom harder, refusing to move. Seeing that, Yoon Si-chan simply swung his bat again, finishing off what was left of the mangled corpse.

Watching him, a memory suddenly resurfaced—back when I got my ass handed to me by him.

It had been two days since my last shakedown.

I was crouched near the pavilion in an apartment complex, smoking alone, when I spotted someone in our school uniform walking past.

I was running low on cash, so I figured I’d rough him up a bit and take his wallet.

“Hey!”

I called out loudly, making him turn his head immediately.

A dark silhouette against the night, too hard to recognize at first. I lazily curled a finger, motioning him over.

He didn’t seem surprised at all and simply walked toward me.

That was when I realized—it was Yoon Si-chan, the new transfer student.

I hadn’t expected it to be him, and it threw me off. I had planned to go straight for a gut punch, but I hesitated.

There was no way this guy would just hand over his money, and I knew things were about to get annoying. But I needed to sort out the hierarchy at some point anyway.

He was taller than me, to the point that I had to look up at him, but so what? His family was rich, his face was spotless—not a single scar or bruise. He wasn’t going to be anything special.

To assert dominance, I flicked my cigarette at him.

Aimed for his face, but it only hit his shoulder before falling to the ground.

He glanced down at the discarded cigarette butt, then casually brushed the ashes off his uniform.

Then he looked at me—expressionless, completely unfazed.

The only things I ended up saying that night were:

“Hey, do you have any money?” and ‘Sorry!’ were the only words I uttered after that, as I was being beaten so badly I thought I was going to die.

Where the hell did he learn to fight like that? Or was he just freakishly strong?

The moment his fist slammed into my face, I lost all control. Before I even knew it, he had me by the collar, lifting me off the ground, and all I could do was take the beating.

I ended up sprawled on the floor, my face a mess of bruises and blood.

Yoon Si-chan crouched beside me, extending a hand. “Cigarette. Lighter.”

At first, I thought he just wanted to smoke.

But no.

He took the lit cigarette from his lips, grabbed my head, and pressed my face into the ground.

My vision was blurred, one eye barely open, but I could clearly see the burning cigarette inching closer to my cheek.

“I’m sorry! Fuck, I’m really sorry! I swear, I’m sorry!”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I begged for my life, my voice cracking, nearly sobbing.

Yoon Si-chan finally stopped, pressing the cigarette out against the floor—right in front of my face. Then, without another word, he walked away.

After that, I did everything I could to avoid eye contact with him. Not that it was hard—I spent most of my time sleeping at my desk, except during lunch.

It sickened me how all the guys I used to hang out with suddenly wanted to befriend Yoon Si-chan.

I remember thinking, I hope one day some psycho picks him as their next target and beats him to death.

But why the hell did the world turn into one where everyone but him ended up dead?

Yoon Si-chan kicked the now-motionless zombie aside and headed for the back door. He nudged the corpse through the gap before shutting the door behind it.

The tension in my body finally eased. I dropped my broom and perched on the desk, sighing.

From now on, anyone who tries to come in? I’m bashing their head in before they even have a chance to turn.

Or maybe I’ll just throw them out the damn window.

I was in the middle of making that vow when Yoon Si-chan turned toward me, his expression still full of unspent aggression.

He walked straight over—gripping his bat the entire time.

I scrambled to pick up my broom, trying to stand, but before I could move, his baseball bat slammed into the desk right beside my face.

Shit.

I froze, barely breathing, and looked up at him.

“Hey. Why didn’t you do anything?”

His voice was eerily calm, completely at odds with the violent glare he was giving me. It was casual, almost indifferent—but the way he stared without even blinking scared the shit out of me.

“I-I, uh… I got scared, I just—”

I stammered, trying to explain, but the air between us only grew heavier.

My mouth opened and closed, but no more words came out.

Yoon Si-chan’s brows furrowed.

The next thing I knew, he grabbed me by the collar and started dragging me toward the back door.

Alliance over.

I was so fucking screwed.

“Hey, I’m sorry! I swear, I’m really fucking sorry! I was scared I’d turn into a zombie if the blood splattered on me! Fuck, if I turn, I’m useless!”

I clung desperately to the nearest desk, begging for my life.

Even with both hands gripping the desk, I was still being dragged like a damn rag doll. It pissed me off, but all I could do was grovel.

Honestly, I wanted to kill him. But strength-wise, reflex-wise, Yoon Si-chan was way above me.

Without a single sign of hesitation, he dragged me straight to the back door and threw me against the lockers.

My back hit the metal with a dull thud, and as I lifted my head, I saw his deadly glare fixed on me.

“You only turn into a zombie if you get bitten.”

He emphasized those four syllables, if you get bitten.

Then, slowly, his expression eased.

Guess even he figured out that surviving alone wasn’t an option.

As much as it fucking sucked, he wasn’t wrong.

I wanted to yank open the back door and shove him outside. But there was no way in hell I’d survive alone.

And knowing this bastard, he’d probably find a way back inside anyway.

Then I’d be the next one to die.

No matter how much I wanted Yoon Si-chan dead, my own life mattered more.

First, I had to stay alive. Survival comes first.

“…Uh, yeah. Sorry. My bad.”

I muttered, watching his reaction as I cautiously stood up.

That’s just how it is for now.

If I get the chance, I’ll take Yoon Si-chan out and replace him with someone new.

For now, though, I played along.

Yoon Si-chan walked over to the window, perched on a desk, and gestured for me to come over.

Straightening my disheveled clothes, I stepped forward.

“Let’s head out in ten minutes.”

Yoon Si-chan said it so casually as he wiped the blood off his bat by rubbing it against the floor.

I stared at him, completely dumbfounded by the sheer insanity of his statement.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

The words came out before I could stop them.

He glanced at me, pausing for a moment from checking the back door.

Shit.

“What else are we gonna do, dumbass? We need to move before more of those things show up.”

At least he had some awareness of how crazy his idea sounded. He gestured toward the zombies with his bat as if that explained everything.

And annoyingly enough, he was right.

Between the bitten guy from earlier and all the noise we’d made, the number of zombies had increased.

“Where the hell are we even supposed to go? The cafeteria?”

In situations like this, food was the most important thing.

If we holed up in the cafeteria, maybe someone would come to rescue us.

“It’s already fucked.”

The answer was immediate.

Judging from the way he had already figured out what was going on, it seemed like Yoon Si-chan had a pretty solid grasp of the situation.

“How the hell did you end up here, anyway?”

“I was eating when all hell broke loose.”

“You crazy bastard. So you made it all the way from there to here?”

The cafeteria was on the first floor, completely separate from the classroom building.

That meant Yoon Si-chan had run all the way through that chaos, outside, and made it up here without getting bitten even once.