SRW | Chapter 14

“Jaeyoung—mmph!”

Kang Deokho clamped a hand over Yeonha’s mouth and yanked him down. The other survivors in the cafeteria followed suit, dropping to the floor in clumsy unison.

What the hell’s going on? Why did Jaeyoung run back outside? And why aren’t the monsters chasing them? They were definitely being pursued earlier…!

With Kang Deokho’s shovel-like hand still muffling him, Yeonha’s mind raced, but no answers came. He tapped Kang Deokho’s arm insistently until the larger boy finally released him with a warning shhh. Yeonha nodded.

BOOM!

A distant explosion echoed moments later. Lee Hyunwoo signaled for everyone to stay still while he cautiously peered outside. The explosion had occurred in a corner of the playground, slightly distant from the cafeteria. Shadows swarmed toward it like moths to flame.

One figure, no, two, sprinting toward the cafeteria. Kim Jaeyoung was cradled like a princess in someone’s arms.

That guy… does he ever get tired?

Even as the others slowed, he had maintained the same relentless pace. The way he’d blocked monster attacks with just a collapsible baton was terrifying. Kang Deokho, a former athlete, couldn’t withstand those forces. Yet this guy did it effortlessly, even with deep wounds on his back. An enigma. But without him, they’d all be dead.

“Barricade the window.”

Kim Jaeyoung entered first, followed by Sun Eunsoo, who vaulted through the shattered frame with eerie grace.

“You deaf?”

“Ah—”

“I said barricade it.”

Eunsoo’s grating voice somehow felt reassuring. Swallowing an inexplicable surge of emotion, Hyunwoo scrambled to find materials. Kim Boksoon, the cafeteria worker, knew the layout by heart. She hauled plastic crates from behind a fridge. Eunsoo wedged one vertically into the window frame, but it left gaps. Jaeyoung appeared like a ghost with duct tape, and they silently reinforced the makeshift barrier.

“…Let’s move inside.”

As they finished blocking the window and caught their breath, Yeonha whispered quietly. Despite having the friend he desperately wanted to save back, Yeonha’s face remained stiff. He seemed displeased about something.

*

 “Get in! And throw any knives or anything outside!”

I shouted while throwing a fist-sized chunk of concrete at the kitchen window. The glass shattered into pieces, and the four lead runners jumped through in turn. After confirming they’d all entered the cafeteria safely, I dashed through the gaps between the pursuing monsters. The monsters tangled together above me. I kept low and slipped nimbly through the openings between them.

Soon a kitchen knife came flying from inside the building. Nice catch. After catching the knife before it hit the ground, I held the collapsible baton in one hand and the knife in the other, drawing the monsters’ attention to me.

‘Damn, how many of these things are there?’

If I didn’t shake them off, I’d die. I sprinted toward the schoolyard. The monsters poured after me from behind. Blocking attacks with the baton and slashing with the knife. Doing this once or twice was manageable, but continuing was no easy task.

Then, a small fire started in a corner of the schoolyard. Wondering what it was, I narrowed my eyes and saw someone crouching in front of a gas burner. He was placing a new butane canister on top of the lit burner.

“He’s lost it.”

He was trying to cause an explosion. Seeing Jaeyoung stand up after completing his task made me laugh hollowly. That guy really never listens. He turned to run back toward the cafeteria when a dark shadow wriggled behind him. I immediately changed direction toward Jaeyoung, barely fending off the monsters chasing me with their eerie sounds.

“No!”

When a tentacle stretched out from the monster behind Jaeyoung toward his neck, I screamed without thinking. Fortunately, Jaeyoung’s legs gave out at that moment and he staggered, falling. The tentacle passed over his head and embedded itself in the concrete floor. I cleanly severed the tentacle attacking Jaeyoung with the knife, then picked him up in a princess carry.

BANG!

Behind us, the overheated butane canister exploded. The monsters chasing me hesitated. Seizing the moment, I ran at full speed and hid in the darkness. Watching the monsters I’d shaken off move toward the explosion site, I sighed in relief.

Kim Jaeyoung was truly insane. How did he even think of using the gas burner and butane canister to draw aggro in that brief moment? Is this what happens when you’re originally smart? I looked at Jaeyoung, soaked in sweat. Though he looked haggard from days of hardship, it somehow gave him a decadent charm. My face probably looked like trash right now… This guy was truly broken. Smart and pretty to boot.

“Ha… you pretty bastard.”

“I’m pretty?”

“Yeah. Really.”

Jaeyoung, being carried princess-style, smiled faintly. Though hidden by the red moonlight, I could imagine his ears turning red. Go ahead, get flustered. I gave him a teasing grin. In this moment when we’d escaped death’s doorstep, I felt like I could even give him a peck on the cheek.

*

The cafeteria now held fourteen survivors including the five from the gymnasium. Ten days until Awakening. Since this was a place that prepared meals for nearly a thousand students, fortunately there were many non-perishable food items left. Though the power was out and all frozen food had thawed, the dropping temperatures meant it wasn’t completely spoiled yet. We should prioritize eating the perishable items first. There was also a considerable amount of water stored in PET bottles before the water was cut off. Testing the faucet, water still came out – it was being drawn from the water tanks. We’d need to conserve this since we didn’t know when the tanks would run dry.

After confirming we had enough supplies to last well beyond ten days, I was about to re-enter the staff cafeteria when I made eye contact with Nam Jinsu, who flinched and looked away.

“What? Think I’m going to do something?”

“N-no, hyungnim.”

“Yeah right.”

In the dream, Nam Jinsu was a non-Awakened who buttered me up while tormenting others. Later, he kneeled before Cha Yuhyeok and exposed all my misdeeds. He ended up being killed by Cha Yuhyeok too. When I said I wanted to look around the kitchen, the cafeteria survivors sent Jinsu with me as supervision. Apparently my reputation made them uneasy. Well, Jinsu was easier to handle than others with his alternating strong/weak personality.

Entering the staff cafeteria, people were sitting in a circle around a single lantern. The tables and chairs here had been moved to the student cafeteria to block doors and windows, so now there was enough open floor space for all fourteen people to lie down. They’d layered multiple tablecloths to ward off the cold.

“Ma’am, do you have any spare clothes?”

“Oh dear, you’re so injured!”

When I approached Kim Boksoon, the cafeteria worker, she looked me over with pity. I wasn’t wearing a shirt, just bandages tightly wrapped around my torso which had loosened considerably during the journey here. With all the scrapes and bruises visible, I must have looked terrible. Thankfully, as an Awakener, my recovery was better than others’. The deep wound on my back from earlier hadn’t reopened despite all the intense movement. It was probably mostly healed by now.

“Wait a moment. I’ll get you clothes. They belonged to a coworker, not sure if they’ll fit. But she was curvy so they should go on.”

“Thank you.”

The shirt Kim Boksoon brought was a bright pink T-shirt. After removing all my bandages, I pulled it on. It was true that it belonged to someone with more flesh – while it wasn’t skin-tight on me, wearing this bright pink floral-print shirt that middle-aged women favored… I could hear my dignity crumbling..

“Oh my, it looks good on you. Is it because you’re handsome? That pretty student over there has clothes that are too dirty too. Want to wear this?”

Kim Boksoon called Kim Jaeyoung over. Jaeyoung’s clothes were stained red with who-knows-whose blood. He took off his shirt and put on the lightweight sleeveless jacket she offered. Apparently his torso was too broad. The armholes were tight and the zipper wouldn’t close at all. The sight of Jaeyoung in this tight white jacket was quite ridiculous, but no one laughed. Because even like that, he looked like a model from a fashion magazine. After testing his mobility, Jaeyoung seemed to find the jacket too restrictive and took it off, tearing open the armpit areas with a rrrip.