Hope | All of us are dead

Chapter 42

Third Person's POV

Hope...

The whole group were full of hope from the start. The group of nineteen students, two of them were seniors were now down to seven. They lost nine of their friends along the way, lives got wasted because the adults abandoned them. The remaining three were dead yet alive at the same time, two in which weren't with the group anymore.

Their school became the ground zero of a lethal virus, turning the students into mindless cannibalistic monsters. Minra never thought that a person could lose hope in the span of three days. She thought that as long as people live, they will never lose hope but those three days have became a roller coaster ride of emotions.

Minra went to school thinking that it will just be another day of boring routine, another day of her and Nam-ra treating each other like strangers, another day of her and Jihyun laughing and hanging out, another day of her simping over Su-hyeok, another day of enduring the pain both emotionally and physically that her injury brought.

If she will be asked if she believe in zombies before all of this happens, she would just laugh. She's a girl with a very colorful imagination but she knew what's real and what's surreal. She had watched many zombie or survival movies, imagining what would she do if she's in that situation. She never thought that she will be living those nightmares.

Who would know that a girl who gets sick easily resists the virus and became half monster? The irony.

Minra walks like a lifeless person, dragging her feet on the ground as she stare ahead of her, void of emotion. She didn't know how much she cries in the span of three days, how much tears she shed and how many times her heart got broken from all of the things that happened to them. She was strong but she's traumatized, and her coping mechanism is unhealthy. She would laugh when she's scared, smile when she's in pain, becomes violent when angry. She bottles up all of the negative emotions and stash it on the very back of her mind.

No matter how the people perceives her as strong and reliable, she's still a teenager with fragile mind. Her emotion is bound to overflow and burst like a water dam needing to release the excess water.

As they walk towards the end of the railway, they were welcomed by armed soldiers pointing their guns to them. The group held both of their hands up, eyes glassy as the sacrifices of their friends flashes right in front of their eyes. Lives of their friends that got taken away for the others to survive.

"Survivors Confirmed."

As they get nearer, Minra suddenly stops, turning back to the direction where they came from. Su-hyeok and Wujin noticed, halting their steps as they wait for the lass.

"Joon-yeong-ie, Cheong-san-ie. I've brought them home," there's no tears to shed, just an emotionless face, "Jihyun-ah, I'm going to live. Unnie, let's see each other again." Her voice is firm, her words gets carried away by the wind as the breeze caress their body, coldness nipping on their bare skin.

Su-hyeok grab Minra's left hand while Wujin grabs the other, both of them intertwining their fingers together as the soldiers jogs towards them, their guns tightly secured with their hands.

As the soldiers checks them for any visible bite mark, a deep voice enters her ear as the wind brushes on their figures,

"Thank you, Minra-yah. Let's see each other soon. I'll find my way back home,"

Followed by a more feminine voice, "I love you, my sister. Let's see each other again."

Minra smiles, looking ahead as she sees Gyeong-su, Jihyun, and Joon-yeong looking at them, a smile plasters on their faces before they got carried away by the air, leaving with trails of wispy white glitters.

The group were all divided into different rooms that looks like sattelite hospitals. A woman waiting for her inside, clad in medical military uniform. She was asked to strip as the woman checks her whole body for any visible wound, her eyes hovering over the scar on her neck, it was circular and some teeth marks were still evident.

"When did you get this scar?" the woman asks, referring to the scar on her neck.

"6th grade." she answers, voice void of emotion.

"Can you tell me how you got it?" the woman asks again.

Minra looks at her coldly, "Can you tell me why you abandoned us?"

The woman looks taken a back, gulping as she clears her throat, "It's okay if you don't want to share it. I'm just curious because of the scar on your neck. It looks like someone had bitten you."

"I was bitten," Minra admitted and she can see the shock and fear registers on the woman's face, "I was bitten by a vampire-wannabe boy in my class and he bit me because I rejected him. We were on 6th grade."

The woman clears her throat, "Can you tell me your name?"

"Choi Minra."

As the woman continues to interview her with basic information, Minra answers in passive-aggressive approach, visibly irritating the woman interviewing her.

As she take a sample of Minra's blood, she explains, "I have to get a sample of your blood every three days for monitoring. Everybody is doing this and you are expected to follow, okay?"

Minra didn't answer, just continue staring at her with emotionless face. The woman admits that she's creep out by this student.

When the doctor had finished checking her, she handed over a box of necessities, telling her where to go next.

When she left the room, she was greeted with the group waiting for her, each of them having the same basket full of necessities as Su-hyeok and Wujin walks towards her, placing both of their hand on her shoulder as if to comfort her.

After going to their assigned room, which all of them now occupies, they were escorted to the interrogation room, all of them waiting at the other side as they were being questioned.

"Do you know the teacher, Lee Byeong-chan?" the woman asks Minra.

"If I do, what will you do?" she responded with a sarcastic answer. She refuse to answer all of the questions she was asked, choosing to answer vaguely.

The woman from the other side massages her temple, clearly super stressed out of the kids, "Just answer me, do you know the teacher Lee Byeong-chan?"

Yet Minra remained emotionless. The woman sighed, saying sternly, "If you cooperate with us---"

"No, why would I?" the lass cut the adult's statement, "You left us to die. How did you sleep last night, fully aware that there are still survivors left in Hyosan yet you bombed them--us? How could you sleep last night knowing that you've killed survivors trying to fight for their lives? Students who just wants to live? Children who have bright future ahead of them? You abandoned us and then you're expecting us to cooperate immediately as we came here?"

Minra stood up, the chair scraping on the floor as it get pushed back, "We shouldn't have trusted the adults and the authorities in saving us because in the end, we can only rely to each other." she walks out. The others standing up too to follow her.