Vengeance

seventeen

"Seonghwa, get back!" Han called, starting to make his way towards him as he took in the situation.

But Seonghwa was hardly listening.

"So what you're saying is, if I shoot you in the head again, you're dead?" Seonghwa said coldly, raising his weapon, his hands shaking.

"If only it were so simple for you. No, you see after the back-up energy restarts the process, the engineering itself regenerates. In other words, you're never getting rid of us."

Seonghwa snapped, firing the gun, striking the right side of his head, lopping off the tip of his ear. The boy fell to the ground in pain as Seonghwa adjusted his aim.

"Shit, I don't know how to aim this thing! Han, get over here!!"

Jisung felt his hands beginning to shake as his legs held him firmly in place. The sound of the gunshot brought it all back. Hearing everything outside, having no idea if he was the only one still alive.

"Han!!"

Seonghwa fired another bullet as the boy tried to get off the ground, this time striking his throat. Saem choked, collapsing against the tiles.

Han stared at the bloody child, watching the life fade from his eyes as the blood drained from his neck.

"Jisung! We need to hurry! He's going to heal! We don't know how fast it'll be but we need to take him to the lab! If we can figure out the difference in the serum, we could get some real answers!"

Han slowly began to snap into action, using all of his mind power to lift his legs, one at a time. Step by step he made his way towards the boy, his heart pounding.

Seonghwa watched his movements, his own head swimming with terrifying thoughts. He was torn between a storm of emotions, and amidst it all, he had proven himself right.

Han wasn't ready.

He was going to have to do this on his own.

"I've got him, you keep looking for others," Seonghwa said curtly, his eyes implying the one person in particular they were keeping an eye out for.

Han nodded, turning again to look into the rooms. But he couldn't shake his uneasiness. If that other girl was around here somewhere, they were in serious trouble. They needed to warn the others somehow but he wasn't sure they were safe themselves.

Finally, his words came back to him and he glanced back at Seonghwa who had successfully restrained the boy.

"Shouldn't we warn the others? She might be out there somewhere," he said softly, not wanting to be too loud.

"I think the gunshots were warning enough. Right now we just need to get him back to the jet before he starts healing," Seonghwa grunted, hauling the kid off the ground and over his shoulder.

The gunshots.

All of the zombies should've come running.

Why was it still so quiet?

The thought seemed to be shaking Seonghwa's senses as well as he approached Han, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Find him."

Han shook his head, looking at the slumped figure on his back.

"Let me take the kid, you should be the one to find him!"

"We don't have time, we need to get out of here."

"But what if I don't find him?"

"You can do this, Jisung. I'll be right back, I just need you to keep going."

Han tried to protest but the boy stirred against Seonghwa's back and they both jumped.

"I need to go. I'll come back to find you," Seonghwa said hurriedly, taking off at a soft jog around the corner, leaving Han utterly alone in the absurdly quiet hallway.

He took a shaky breath, closing his eyes as he calmed his nerves. This was his chance. This was what he'd been waiting for. His turn to be the hero for everyone.

For Seonghwa, at the very least.

He resumed his search, grateful to find most of the nearby rooms completely empty. He still felt guilty about seeing any adults around. If he found a candidate before Hongjoong, he couldn't just pass them up. But his selfishness was wishing he could do this one thing right.

Finally he was over halfway through the hallway, when a quiet voice nearly caused him to freeze right in his tracks.

"S-Seonghwa? Is...is that really you?"

He followed the sound to the second dressing room, his hands like ice as they hovered above his holster.

"Hwa?"

None of the other zombies had ever spoken before. It couldn't be a good sign. Especially now that they knew Kyungsoon was on the loose.

His heart pounded in his chest as he pressed his back against the wall, just shy of the door where he'd heard the voice. What was he thinking?! This was clearly a trap of some sort. This was a freaky plan she'd concocted just to trap the two of them.

It was some sort of distraction. There had to be an ulterior motive. There had to be something more.

If he were really sentient, he would have spoken up sooner. This couldn't actually be triggered by Seonghwa's voice. It had to have been planned somehow. She must have figured he would be one of the members to return.

Though he was alone, Han could be grateful for one thing; he had the advantage.

Without Seonghwa, she couldn't get her thoughtless rush of passion. He would be more impartial alone.

"Hwa? Are you there? Please, answer me!"

Han jumped as a loud bang crashed against the door, startling him. The zombie began to beat his fists against the door, as if trying to get out. He needed to act soon before it stirred up too much attention.

"He's coming," he said softly, his voice cracking in fear. His chest tightened as he realized he might not have been loud enough when the crashing quickly ceased.

"Seonghwa?"

The voice had become quiet again.

What did this all mean? Did he just think every person was Seonghwa? Had she programmed him to target only Seonghwa? It made no sense, but if it worked to calm him down, Jisung had to try to go with it.

"I'm here," he whispered, turning to stand outside the door.

He heard a hand press against the wood.

"Hwa? Is that really you?"

"It's me. I'm gonna get you out of here."

He waited, listening for any other sounds in the room.

Nothing.

"You're...you're not Seonghwa."

Han was caught off-guard, stepping back from the door. He hadn't realized it could comprehend his words. Was he really programmed? Or was he in there still? Was it possible that somewhere deep in that zombie mind, Hongjoong still had some control?

"Hwa? Hwa?? Where did you go?"

The voice got frantic and the banging started again, causing Han to act impulsively.

He opened the door.

And standing just behind Hongjoong was a girl, smiling wide.

"A new toy."