𝕎𝔸𝕐 𝔹𝔸ℂ𝕂 ℍ𝕆𝕄𝔼 ||𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋||

Chapter - 30

The group, having emerged from the cryptic corridor of prison cells, now found themselves in a tight-knit huddle, tension swirling like an invisible storm among them.

"What is this? Why are they the only ones here?" Tae-man's voice pierced the uneasy air, questioning the eerie isolation of these incarcerated souls.

"Did the prison officers really leave them behind?" Jang-soo pondered aloud. His question hung in the air, a rhetorical musing that exposed the unsettling truth of their situation.

"Who knows what happened? We can't trust what they say," Bo-ra declared, her skepticism etched in the furrow of her brows.

"From what I know, in times of war, they let the petty criminals go, and they transfer the hard criminals to Busan. I think all of those people must be hard criminals. Maybe that's why they were left here until the end and got stuck," Young-shin shared a bit of his knowledge.

Yeon-hwa, having studied the prisoners closely, dropped a chilling detail that added weight to the already somber atmosphere.

"You're right. Their name tags were red, which means... they are on death row," she disclosed, the gravity of her revelation settling over the group like a heavy shroud.

"Then are they serial killers or something?" So-yoon asked, her question a reflection of the group's collective attempt to grapple with the severity of their discovery.

Tae-man's eyes widened, "Darn it, the first one looked super scary. Maybe he's the boss of a gang, and he wiped out his enemy gang before getting locked up," he suggested, a dramatic tone accompanying his speculative scenario.

"Get lost," Bo-ra, unamused by his unserious behavior, promptly pushed him aside, dismissing his attempt at levity with a straightforward directive.

Amidst the banter and speculation, the prisoners' voices persisted, audible through the heavy metal gates that stood as a barrier between them and the unknown.

"Hey kids, are you still there? Come here and open these doors for me."

"Fuck! At this rate, we might actually die! Open this up!"

"Please, save us. We're not bad guys."

"Come over here for a minute."

"Kids! Come over here and listen to us."

Hee-rak, his wariness palpable, leaned in to address the group, emphasizing the potential danger of aiding these prisoners. "We can never open the doors for them. They're dangerous people," he cautioned, his words resonating with an air of self-preservation.

So-yoon, echoing Hee-rak's sentiments, reinforced the notion of maintaining a safe distance.

However, Ae-sol, her innate kindness surfacing, suggested a different approach. "But they said they haven't even eaten for days. Should we at least give them—"

"Are you crazy?" Hee-rak, vehemently opposed to any form of assistance, interrupted her with a sharp rebuttal.

Despite the tension, Young-shin proposed a middle ground, forcing the group to confront the moral ambiguity of their situation. "Then should we just leave them alone and ignore them?"

"Isn't it the right thing to do? They did something really bad. Or else, the adults wouldn't have left them here," Yeon-hwa considered, her voice reflecting with group's internal struggle with morality and survival.

"If we leave them like that, they'll end up dead soon," Jang-soo added, injecting a layer of pragmatism into the discussion.

Hee-rak, seemingly unmoved by the ethical debate, remained focused on the immediate goal. "Why should we care? Let's just grab what we need and get out."