HEART OF GOLD ↳ huh yunjin

04

YOON YEONA'S POV

"i'm not brave, not at all" i finally admit. i would've never thought i'd heard those words come out of my own mouth, i didn't really want to hear them.

yunjin looks at me confused, but i decide not to explain anything more as i don't want her to be scared, i don't want her knowing i'm just as terrified as she is.

"nevermind" i quickly say and turn back to look at the empty snack packaging in my hand.

she doesn't say anything, and we both decide silence is best for the situation we're in.

i want to say something, but i don't know what to say. a million thoughts are going through my head right now, and yet i couldn't name a single one of them.

they're just there.

i stand up and look out the window, the sun is beginning to set, and i can't help but worry a little.

worry for my sister, my friends, worry for the world, worry for what's going to happen next.

will i survive?

my thoughts begin becoming clearer, and i feel as if my life is flashing before my eyes, maybe it's from the panic, maybe it's from the situation i'm in.

then the anger comes, and i begin wondering who would ever make such a mess like this, who would be cruel enough to do this?

the anger becomes so bad that i punch the table next to me, again and again before yunjin pulls me away from it.

my fist is bloody, and i begin crying, i don't know why i cry, every minute i just because more and more numb, so why am i crying?

the pain sets in, the physical pain, and it's becoming harder to breath, my mind can't think straight, my vision is blurry.

is this what death feels like? am i gonna die? why can't i breath? what happened? what is happening?

i hear things, i hear yunjin talking, but i don't know what she's saying, i'm hearing words with no meanings. i'm panicking harder, what happened?

the only noise i make is the gasping for air, and i feel like i'm gonna puke, oh god, why me?

suddenly, it all stops, my mind goes blank, my vision is black.

-

once i wake up, i feel something cold and wet on my forehead, i notice a piece of cloth from a uniform that was dipped in water being the cause of the feeling.

i slowly sit up and look around the classroom, i see yunjin in the corner looking a little scared, as if i could turn into a zombie any second now.

"yunjin?" i say lowly and quietly, and i see her take a sigh of relief and she steps toward me.

and then i see several zombies outside the classroom and i remember the reality i'm facing right now, that we're all facing.

i groan, annoyed that this wasn't all just a dream.

"turn the lights off" i say quickly, sounding a little stupid. they probably can sense the light though so i'd rather be safe than sorry.

she listens to what i said, turning the lights off before walking up to me and staring down at me, she's clearly thinking of what to say.

"are you.. okay?" she asks, quietly, scared to make any noise as we don't want to attract attention from anybody.

"i think so, do i look okay?"

she nods in response before grabbing my hand, the hand i punched the table with. i notice it's grabbed in gauze, but it would be better to change it.

she slowly unwraps the gauze and gently cleans some of the blood off, as if she was scared to hurt me. suddenly, i come up with an idea.

"how much gauze do we have?" i ask, suddenly sounding curious and interested.

"a decent amount i guess, why?"

"let's wrap it around our forearms" i say, sounding confident, but she still looked confused.

"why?" she asks once more, her confusion only growing.

"so we can prevent a zombie from yknow, biting us. our forearms could easily be targeted. i'd say to wrap it around our necks and shoulders, but that could end up badly" i say, and she nods her head in approval a little

"i guess so then" she says and hands me the gauze.

"how long do you think we're gonna stay here?" she asks, and i shrug, i really haven't thought of that.

"i don't know.. however long we need to i guess. it'd be best to stay here until we no longer are able to i guess" i say, but she could tell i was still thinking.

"until the food runs out" i finalize, nodding my head as i wrap some gauze around my forearm, not wanting to wrap too much so that i don't sweat alot.

she nods and as i finish, she wraps some around her forearms too. she copied the way i did it, not too much but not too little.

while she did that, i walked around the classroom to try and find anything else that could help us.

from the corner of my eye, i see something.

something i would've never expected.

published; june 6, 2023

- velmei