Hyeon's throat feels raw and sore. She's not sure if it's from crying or trying not to. Her cheeks are stiff and sticky, strewn with sweat, dirt, and a reddish-brown substance she refuses to name. The images of blood, of detached limbs and body parts, of blood, of rifles littering the ground, of bloodied uniforms, of blood, of blood flash in her mind. She snaps her eyes shut, fingers digging deeper into her palms. Visions of figures running around her pop up in the darkness. Her classmates- no, her friends. Their petrified screams ring in her headspace.
"...Where... are... the... others..."
She doesn't even register that they're her words that sound out, her voice so hoarse and shaky it's difficult to recognise. It's only when the others' heads turn to her that it finally impresses upon her that she was the one who spoke.
The hushed discussion between Lieutenant Lee and Wonbin ahjussi cease, the two adults turning to face her. They exchange glances, conflicted expressions evident.
"...The others... where are they..."
She finds herself asking again, voice even more brittle this time when it becomes easy to read from their looks that they, too, are unsure of her friends' location, their situation, their safety.
Her face falls, and she feels hot droplets on her cheeks. Muffled sobs break from her left and right.
"You... have to find them."
She isn't even sure when she started getting up from sitting with her legs folded up, but legs shaky and unsteady, she's up, fingers clutching the muzzle and grip of her rifle so hard it begins to jitter.
"You... we... have to find them."
The two soldiers share another look, and Hyeon knows they're at their wit's ends.
--
They were given three bullets each, and Hyeon has to force her utmost concentration in loading them into her rifle, her hand so rickety she almost drops the small pellets.
The town is quiet, uncharacteristic of the lawless state it was in just minutes ago. Apart from the shuffling of feet of the students and the quiet, suppressed panting, the air is still, as if waiting for something or someone to break the silence.
And then, a thundering gunshot rips through the air, startling the students and Wonbin ahjussi as they whip their heads around to locate the source of the sound.
Aiming her rifle at her right, Hyeon mouths to Wonbin ahjussi, "Car park." He nods and gestures for them to follow him as he leads them into the underground car park.
Every step they take is high-strung with tension, the students darting their eyes back and forth, in heart-pounding fear that a creature would leap out of nowhere again and try to lunge for them. Their surroundings darken as they enter the entrance of the car park, stepping over dead bodies of other students and civilians. They pray that the gunshot was not one of finality, but of fight; that it came from their classmates who managed to protect themselves; that it will lead them to something good.
It does.
"Soyeon! Jangsoo!" Yoojung is the first to spot the other four of their classmates who are slumped over, still panting heavily.
A loud clattering echoes in the car park as Soyeon drops the rifle onto the ground, rushing towards the 12 of them, the girls immediately crowding her and embracing her. Hyeon can't help the tremble of her lower lip as she reaches an arm through the group hug to grab Soyeon around her elbow. Warm. Alive. Okay.
She's not sure whose forearm she has latched onto and later, she'll feel extremely apologetic for the red crescents imprinted onto Yeonju's arm. But now, she tightens her grip, allowing herself the luxury to flutter her eyes close, focusing on only the relieved whimpers of her friends.
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Fanfiction"Death doesn't discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes and it takes and it takes. And we keep living anyway; we rise and we fall, and we break, and we make our mistakes. And if there's a reason I'm still alive when everyone who lov...
