Promise (Sweet Home)

1.2: Alert

The oil sizzled in the pan as Na-ri placed strips of bacon one by one. Her head bobbed to the beat blasting in her earbuds, humming to the melody once in a while as she flips the strips over.

Her bobbing head morphed into more of a little dance as she placed the plate of food on the counter before her. 

She slid over to the fridge and searched for a juice box to be paired with her breakfast. She finally plopped onto the couch and chowed down on her food, stuffing her face with a smile.

Until a scream echoed through the halls.

Na-ri stopped instantly, dropping her plate onto her lap. Her eyes wandered the room, "Hello?!" She yelled to no one in particular, but she did get a response: another gut wrenching scream. "I'M HUNGRY!!!" It yelled.

This one continued, growing louder and more maniacal, with laughs fluttered here and there. The walls shook with the continuous bangs and the screeches were beginning to hurt the girl's ears.

Cautiously, Na-ri placed her food down and inched towards the door, grabbing the biggest knife she had in her kitchen along the way.

As she approached the barrier, all the noise from before came to an abrupt stop. Silence hung in the air, and a tense, anxious feeling rose through Na-ri.

Gripping the knife handle tighter, the girl pushed open the door and tiptoed across the hall, passing Hyun-su's apartment and towards the stairs. She paused as she felt something crackle from beneath her.

Slowly, Na-ri looked down, letting out a sigh of relief to see it was only a pack of half eaten ramen and nothing more... serious. Her brows came together as she noticed that there were more, ripped apart and half eaten.

But she noticed something else, a strange liquid mixed amongst the mess. A red liquid.

Na-ri gasped realizing what the strange red hue was... blood.

Gulping down her fear and presenting the last of her courage, she walked again. She finally made it to the end of the hall, before a loud bang echoed from behind her. Instantly she turned around and was met with a jarred edge of a stick staring right back at her.

Na-ri gasped and swung her knife, cutting through the stick, causing bits of plastic to fly. One, in particular, flew directly into the eye of the person who was carrying the stick.

Hyun-su yelped in pain as he covered his eye, hunching over slightly as he leaned against the wall for support.

"Oh, shit!" Na-ri exclaimed as she hurried over to the boy, "I'm so sorry are you alright,?" She leaned in to help the pained boy, "here let me see it." Na-ri placed her hands gently as she leaned in closer, staring straight into the boy's eye.

Her face scrunched as if feeling Hyun-su's pain. "Oh.. that's... no it's okay." She tried to stay calm, "Tilt you're head down and blink." She guided the boy, "Yea, that's good keep blinking, blink it out." Hyun-su still groaned in pain once in a while, but soon they got the bit out of his eye.

Na-ri stood on her toes as she inspected the eye once again, "Man, I'm so sorry. I thought you were a killer or something." Hyun-su stared back, his mouth partially agape, "Oh... it's okay."

Na-ri smacked his arm, "Don't sneak up on someone like that!" she scolded, "I have a knife! I could've been much worse than a splinter in your eye."

Hyun-su only continued to stare, his puppy dog eyes looking directly at Na-ri, "Did you see a weird woman just now?" Na-ri shook her head. "No, just heard screams."

She turned around and studied the stairwell, a trail of blood led up the stairs. Just then a thud was heard from behind her.

Hyun-su feinted.

Na-ri looked down at the boy, back up to the hallway around them, then back at Hyun-su. She sighed, "Just great."

She stepped over the boy and grabbed ahold of his arms, heaving her way to her apartment. "God, I hope no one sees this. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea." She looked back down at the boy, "I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea."

She somehow lifted Hyun-su onto her couch, pushing anything out of the way so he could lay comfortably. With an exhausted sigh, Na-ri closed the front door and walked over to the kitchen, pouring a glass of water and plating the rest of her food and placed it in front of the sleeping boy.

She reached over and placed a hand over his forehead, eyebrows furrowing at the sensation, "Why is he so cold?" She muttered as she walked over to grab a blanket for the boy.

She gently placed the blanket over Hyun-su and down on the floor beside him.

Na-ri could hear Hyun-su's incoherent mumbles, his twitches and jitters shaking the couch behind her. She looked over to him with concern, "Please be okay."

Suddenly an alarm blared from her phone. Instinctively, Na-rin reached over and picked it up, tapping on the screen to reveal a government sent message.

A nation wide alert.

After about an hour or two, or eight, Hyun-su finally awoke with a grumble. "Morning sleeping beauty," Na-ri teased, pushing the food towards the boy, "Eat up, you're probably hungry."

Hesitantly Hyun-su sat up and reached for a strip of bacon, "Thank you..." He mumbled as he took a bite. "No problem" Na-ri replied, "Though, it might be cold, hope you're alright with that."

"I... I don't mind." He said as he continued to stuff his face. Na-ri nodded and turned back to the kitchen, "Did you want anything else to drink? I've got juice, coffee, tea."

"Water's fine."

Na-ri nodded and walked back to the couch.

"That woman...was she found?"

Na-ri shook her head, "I don't think she was." she then glanced over to the window, "But that lady... wasn't exactly human, right?"

Hyun-su perked up, "Yeah, kind of... I ... I think so... why?"

Na-ri walked over to the window, "Well, cause I think they're might be more of them."

Hyun-su stood up from the couch and walked over to the girl, staring out to the view outside with a mix of awe and horror.

It was like a scene from an apocalypse.

Na-ri chuckled to herself, "It's the beginning of the fucking end."

He turned to face the girl and finally took a good look at her. Her slightly wavy hair cascaded down her shoulders, the golden rays highlighting her slightly tanned skin, her dark eyes holding a spec of light, the faint smile etched on her soft lips, the oversized shirt hanging loosely on her frame. It was as if she wasn't from this world, almost too good to be true.

She was beautiful.

Suddenly, he felt liquid drip from his nose. He reached up and wiped his nose.

It was red.

Na-ri turned to look at the struggling boy, his form shaking as he struggled to contain the blood gushing from his nose. She gasped and ran to get tissues as fast as she could, holding them out for him to take.

As he did, Na-ri remember the alert from before:

Those with these symptoms must be quarantined immediately: nosebleeds, blackouts, sudden aggressive behavior.

Hyun-su has already shown two of the three.