Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Nineteen.

"Come on, we have to keep going," So-chul panted, keeping an arm around (Y/n) as the two followed Wu-taek, who was shooting the Cells that were in the way, most of which were attacking students. The gun Wu-taek ran out of bullets shortly, but trying to find a new gun would be far riskier than just heading for the school. The trio halted covering their heads as a sphere crashlanded and sent debris flying everywhere, cutting them in a few places. (Y/n) caught sight of Yeong-shin heading away from the sphere. Some fleeing students made him crash back into some barrels, but he recovered quickly. The boy almost passed a hiding Ae-seol, but he quickly doubled back to take the girl with him.

"Ae-seol, Ae-seol, we need to go!" Yeong-shin said frantically. Ae-seol sobbed in relief, glad to see a familiar face. Yeong-shin cupped her face. "It's okay, it's okay. Let's go." He pulled Ae-seol up and made to go around the crates and along the building to avoid the chaos, but the two didn't get very far before a window and its bars were broken by a boy who was tackled by a Cell. He squirmed as the Cell pierced his chest. The two knew he was dead before they could even help. Yeong-shin scrambled to his feet to help Ae-seol back to hers. His ankle was grabbed by the Cell and they both fell down. The two panicked as the Cell prepared to launch at them but Ae-seol was quick enough to grab a nearby case and slam it down onto the Cell, intercepting its path. She continuously slammed the case down on the Cell even after it was unmoving. Yeong-shin was momentarily in shock before he quickly got up and moved over to Ae-seol. "Ae-seol! Enough, let's go!" The girl yelped as she was pulled away. "Ae-seol, it's okay." Ae-seol sobbed in reply. "Ae-seol! Hurry, hurry, we need to go!" Yeong-shin pulled Ae-seol up and the two quickly got moving.
In the same area, Ha-na was screaming her head off as Bo-ra pulled her along. The two of them weren't able to turn or stop in time before they crashed into some barrels and landed apart. Ha-na fell against a stack of chests while Bo-ra was still near the barrels. Bo-ra pushed her aching self to her feet. Ha-na whimpered and rubbed her arms before looking up. She screamed in horror at the sight of a Cell charging at the girls.

"Bo-ra!" Ha-na screamed. Bo-ra quickly grabbed one of the cases and threw it at the Cell, stopping it from reaching Ha-na.

"Let's go!" Bo-ra shouted, pulling on Ha-na's arms to drag the girl to her feet. Ha-na continued screaming as Bo-ra led her over to some crates that they used as steps to get over the fence. As they did so, Yeong-su crashed into the same fence. He stumbled back and crawled beneath a military vehicle. Right in front of him, as he crawled out from beneath the vehicle, Na-ra snatched up a gun and started shooting the Cells that were in the process of killing students or attempting to do so. She whipped around suddenly and shot a bullet right past Yeong-su's head, killing the Cell that was going for (Y/n) and So-chul. Wu-taek, who reached Ha-na and Bo-ra, looked back in shock. The other three ran to So-chul and (Y/n) before they all looked at Na-ra in awe.

"(Y/n)!" Na-ra darted over to the said girl, gazing frantically at her. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Ha-na's terrified scream and that was all they needed to get running.

"Yeong-su!" Wu-taek hollered, waving the boy on. Na-ra went ahead and covered for the group until she ran out of bullets. Ha-na, Bo-ra, and Wu-taek were the first to reach the stairs and head up toward the building. Yeong-su wasn't far behind them. (Y/n) refused to go without Na-ra, so she took the girl's hand as So-chul urged her on. After someone bumped into (Y/n) and knocked her down, Na-ra skidded to a halt to help the girl up. The case had broken open and the bullet magazines were all over. So-chul continued to the doors, waving in other students.

"Just leave it!" Won-bin shouted at the girls.

"But—" It was their only chance of escape, (Y/n) wanted to say.

"I'll take care of it!" Won-bin insisted.

"Come on!" Na-ra said, pulling (Y/n) to her feet. The two ran inside and lingered in the entrance hall to keep an eye out for other students coming in. Jang-su and So-yeon were the last among the group arriving. Jang-su happened to look up at the sky at the right moment and he spotted a falling sphere that was heading right for the overhanging entrance. He sprinted for So-yeon, tackling her into the building just in time for them to avoid being crushed. Screams rang out as the sphere hit the ground, trapping them all inside.
Coughs filled the air while the dust cleared. So-yeon grimaced and held her bleeding side, which had been cut by a piece of debris. The sound of spheres still falling was fresh to their ears as they waved the dust out of their faces. They gazed out the open doors and Ae-seol was the first to fly to her feet to close the doors.