TO THE BONE, all of us are dead.

eleven

xi.

RUINATION

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"You're telling me you can handle visiting a fight club and not standing on the ledge of a window?" Shin Hee-Jin yelled at Choi Ho-Sung as they made their way back to the broadcasting room. The senior boy's legs were shaking as they inched their way across. Ho-Sung crouched and caught his breath, jumping and screaming when he saw Cheong-san slam his hand on the window. "Jesus Christ, are you-- Cheong-san!"

The junior opened the window for them and they climbed in. Hee-Jin's brow furrowed in confusion when she saw Kang Yu-Jin's little brother, Leo, with him. "Why're you with Yu-Jin's brother?"

"Yu-Jin's alive! She's like... a half zombie!"

Hee-Jin doubled back, waving her hands, "I'm sorry. You're telling me that Kang Yu-Jin is alive after falling out a window AND becoming a zombie?"

"It's true!" Leo yelled, not liking how she was talking about his older sister. "We saw her! She led the zombies away from the library so this guy and I could escape!"

"What he said," Cheong-san pointed at him.

"Where is she now if she's alive then?" Ho-Sung asked, out of breath.

Cheong-san and Leo glanced at each other, turning back to them, "We don't know."

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Once On-jo and Joon-yeong returned from the science lab with the drone, Joon-yeong sat himself down on a chair and began to set up the drone.

"Does it work?" Dae-su, who was sat beside Joon-yeong wondered. "Is it working?"

He looked up at him. "I think it will."

The boy picked up a VR headset that he had also made and put it over his eyes. He moved one of the toggles on the controller, causing the drone to ascend into the air above the table.

"Holy crap! That thing is crazy fast!" Dae-su pointed out as the students watched the drone fly around the room. Yong-Jin had fallen to the floor to avoid getting hit by it, Hiro shaking his head with no amusement.

"I'll take it outside after I find Cheong-san, Hee-Jin and Ho-Sung. If I find any rescuers out there, I'll land in front of them." Joon-yeong explained as he went to fly the device out the window but was stopped by Nam-ra.

"Wait a second," she said. "They say when people know their situation is hopeless, that's when they despair."

"Sweet saying," Dae-su nodded after they all went silent for a moment. "But what does it mean?"

Nam-ra thought for a moment, "Even if everyone in the world but us turned into zombies, we can't fall into despair."

"Ah, so that's what that means," Dae-su nodded again when he understood.

"Nam-ra," On-jo said. "It's best to make a plan and try to stick to it, but we're not all top students, and we can't be as smart as you. Being logical isn't part of human nature."