Chapter 6: A Promise Between Us
759 Words
Rain poured relentlessly over the deserted highway.
The windshield wipers squeaked back and forth, barely keeping up with the downpour.
Inside the car, silence lingered.
Seo-yeon hugged her backpack to her chest, staring out the window at the burning skyline of Seoul.
Only yesterday, those streets had been filled with people rushing to work, students laughing together, and families eating dinner.
Now...
The city belonged to the dead.
Ji-hoon glanced at her.
"You should eat something."
"I'm not hungry."
"You haven't eaten since this morning."
"I'm fine."
He sighed, knowing she wasn't.
She was thinking about Min-jae.
She always was.
"We'll find him," Ji-hoon said quietly.
Seo-yeon finally looked at him.
"What if I'm too late?"
"You won't be."
"But what if..." Her voice trembled. "What if he never forgives me?"
Ji-hoon smiled softly.
"I don't think he ever stopped loving you."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"He just doesn't understand."
Seo-yeon lowered her head.
"I wasn't trying to abandon him."
"I know."
"I only sent him to boarding school because I couldn't leave him alone while I worked night shifts..."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I thought he'd have friends there... teachers to look after him..."
Her voice broke.
"I thought he'd be happier than living alone in our apartment every night."
Ji-hoon reached across the center console and gently held her hand.
"You gave up your youth so he could have one."
"He doesn't know that."
"Then tell him."
"If we survive..."
"No."
He squeezed her hand.
"When we survive."
For the first time since the outbreak began...
Seo-yeon smiled.
A tiny one.
But it was there.
---
Ten miles away...
The school library had become a prison.
Only twelve students remained.
The doors were barricaded with bookshelves and tables.
Outside...
The infected wandered through the corridors.
Every now and then, a low growl echoed beyond the walls.
No one dared make a sound.
One of the younger students quietly cried into his knees.
"I want my mom..."
Another girl held the photograph of her family against her chest.
Min-jae stared at the ceiling.
He couldn't stop thinking about the phone call.
"You chose your life."
He had said those words so easily.
He remembered the silence on the other end.
Then the call ending.
"What if..." he whispered to himself.
"What if those were the last words she ever heard from me?"
His chest tightened.
He pulled out his phone.
Still no signal.
The battery had dropped to thirty-one percent.
On the lock screen was an old picture.
Seo-yeon stood beside him during his middle school graduation.
She had flour on her cheek from the cake she'd baked herself.
He remembered complaining that it tasted terrible.
She had laughed anyway.
A tear slid down his face.
"I'm sorry, Noona..."
---
The rain finally stopped just before dawn.
Ji-hoon pulled into a small mountain rest area overlooking the city.
The roads ahead were blocked by abandoned vehicles.
"We'll have to continue on foot."
Seo-yeon nodded.
Together, they searched the nearby buildings for supplies.
Inside one of the storage rooms they found camping equipment.
Backpacks.
Sleeping bags.
Flashlights.
A first-aid kit.
"Looks like someone was preparing for an emergency," Ji-hoon said.
Seo-yeon carefully packed everything they could carry.
As Ji-hoon reached for another bag...
A sharp pain shot through his arm.
He froze.
His hand instinctively grabbed his sleeve.
The scratch.
It burned.
Only for a second.
Then the pain disappeared.
"You okay?" Seo-yeon asked.
He quickly forced a smile.
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"I just bumped into the shelf."
She looked unconvinced.
But before she could ask another question...
A loud military helicopter thundered overhead.
Both of them rushed outside.
The helicopter hovered above the highway.
A soldier leaned out with a loudspeaker.
"This is the Republic of Korea Armed Forces!"
"If you are an uninfected civilian, proceed immediately to the Han River Emergency Evacuation Center."
"Medical assistance and transportation are available."
Hope returned to Seo-yeon's eyes.
"Ji-hoon..."
"What?"
"If Min-jae escaped..."
"He might be heading there too."
Without another word, they started running toward the highway.
High above them...
The helicopter circled once more.
None of them noticed the massive horde emerging from the forest below.
Hundreds...
Maybe thousands...
Their pitch-black eyes followed the aircraft.
One infected let out a deafening screech.
The entire horde surged forward.
Moments later...
The helicopter disappeared behind the trees.
Then...
A fiery explosion lit up the morning sky.
Seo-yeon stopped running.
The burning wreckage rained down in the distance.
The emergency broadcast ended in flames.
Their last hope of rescue...
Was gone.
- Writer
