THUNDERBIRD | CHA HYUNSOO

03

while hyunsoo was changing his clothing in the bathroom dasom made him something for defense. she took his now broken mop, a kitchen knife, and some tape she found on his counter.

she heard someone shuffle slightly and she sees hyunsoo, "i know it's not much, but it will help you against those monsters." she hands him the makeshift weapon.

if you make a call and leave the phone on, it'll make a noise when a monster is near you.

come when your mind is made up.

the two both simultaneously pulled their phones out and hit the call button, the faint buzzing filling their earbuds.

dasom sighs, "let's do this i guess." she gently opens the door to not make too much noise and stomps her way a few feet to hyunsoo's neighbor that saved their asses. hyunsoo followed hot on her trails as she knocked on his door. after hearing a faint "come in" she pushed the creaking metal door open to see the same man previously sitting behind his desk with his makeshift gun on top.

"my name is han dusik, you?" dusik says to no one in particular.

"i'm kang dasom." she gently nudges hyunsoo to share his. she knew he was a shy kid and felt bad.

"cha hyunsoo." he mumbles out quietly. poor kid.

"you're a little shy huh?" dusik questions.

"how can we," hyunsoo blurts abruptly shocking both dasom and dusik, "how can we save the kids?"

"it's all on you," dusik reveals himself to be in a wheelchair which is what he was sitting at behind his desk. it shocked the two of them, "should i go?" he asks in a sarcastic tone.

"i used to be a legend in cheonggyecheon. you've heard they can build any tank? as long as you have the blueprint." this is the coolest old dude i've ever seen, she thinks to herself slightly smiling in wonder.

hyunsoo says nothing, but stands there in shock. dusik sighs, "what that means is that i can transform your little stick into something much more useful." dasom's took a weird offense to that. she thought she did a good job making that spear.

"hand me that thing." dusik gestures. "what?" hyunsoo finally speaks after what felt like years of silence from him. "bring that over here, your spear!"

"oh, this." hyunsoo passes the spear to him, knife first. dusik backs away and slightly glared at hyunsoo. he quickly changed sides and handed it to him handle first. she laughed silently.

"well better get to work! have a seat." he motioned his hand to his worn out couch in the corner, "you won't have to tell me twice, my feet fucking hurt." dasom plops onto the couch and immediately starts rubbing her feet.

hyunsoo slowly sits down next to dasom on the farthest end of the couch. "watch your language." dusik warns.

dasom put her hands up in defense, "did you have anything on you?" he questions, twiddling with wires and deciding which ones to connect.

"only these kitchen scissors." she pulls them out of her back pocket.

"oh, these are useless. i'll have to see if there's anything here for you." he quickly examined the room. "that bat over there." he points to a wooden bat that looked older than her. she got up and handed the splinter infested bat to him and watched him set it in the corner for later.

dasom flung herself back onto the couch, we're gonna be here for a while. she sighs and feels her eyes get heavy, she slowly closes them and drifts away to sleep. she hadn't realized how long it had been since she fully slept. yes, she liked staying up late and pulling all-nighters, but something about the adrenaline and tension going on with the monsters was really energy draining. she was finally resting peacefully.

hyunsoo gently shook the girl awake. "damn, how long has it been?" dasom rubbed her eyes and stretched. "only an hour." hyunsoo replied in a monotone voice.

"there, all done." dusik spoke up after hyunsoo's spear was finished. dusik had finished her bat a while ago, all he really did was hammer some nails and wrap some barb wire around it which she still didn't know why he had it in his apartment.

hyunsoo still stared at a picture on the corner of his desk, dusik's old army photo. "hey!" a loud tasing noise draws the attention of the two teens.

dusik had managed to turn hyunsoo's wimpy spear into an electrocuting weapon that would instantly kill any human. any human, that is.

"they'll move around with their head off, a kitchen knife can't do the job, but this will do it." both dasom and hyunsoo were clearly amazed with him.

"you think i can kill them with that thing?" hyunsoo asks. "no, you can not." he replies nonchalantly.

"how do you know that?" hyunsoo asks, yet again. for someone who doesn't talk much, he sure does have a lot of questions. "i just know it."

"wow, so helpful." dasom rolled her eyes. she didn't want to seem rude, but she was an observer. if there was a legitimate answer from him, she could easily figure out how to kill them.

he ignored her, "avoid them at all costs. if you come across one, run as fast as you can. no! don't even let them see you, yeah?"

"then, how about you give me one of your bigger weapons." hyunsoo points to the corner where dusiks crutch-gun lays.

"no, it's no good. it can only fire a few shots at a time, i already fired one. i might need another one, and the last bullet is reserved for me only," he makes a hand motion similar to a gun at his neck, "so i don't die old." you already are old.

"we better go now hyunsoo, the sun is going down." dasom nudged her head in the direction of the window.

they both run through the many hallways and corridors in a hurry to get to the 12th floor. they tried to find any working elevators or emergency stairwells that weren't chained or blocked off.

a loud ringing went off in their earbuds. they shared a worried glance and she grabs his wrist, dragging him into a broken elevator to hide. the elevator smelled like death itself. dasom was starting to get squeamish seeing all the bugs flying, it made her skin itch just looking at them.

i can't see...

it was the same monster from before, stumbling around and grabbing walls. just when they felt they were safe, the power went out.

they were stuck and sightless, just like the monster.