Chapter 14: The First Sign
1054 Words
No one moved.
The young man's trembling fingers came away stained with fresh blood.
A single crimson drop splashed onto the church floor.
Yuna instinctively stepped behind Seo-yeon, clutching her teddy bear so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
Mrs. Park covered her mouth.
"The nosebleed..."
The stranger looked from one face to another, panic rising in his eyes.
"No... no, please. I haven't turned."
His breathing became shallow.
"I was running for hours. Maybe that's why."
Ji-hoon didn't lower the metal pipe in his hand.
"What's your name?"
"...Lee Do-hyun."
"Were you bitten?"
Do-hyun immediately shook his head.
"No."
"Scratched?"
"No."
"Then how did you get all that blood on you?"
He looked down at his torn clothes.
"It isn't mine."
Silence settled over the room.
Seo-yeon slowly knelt beside him.
"Tell us what happened."
Do-hyun swallowed hard before speaking.
"I was hiding with my parents in our apartment. We thought locking the doors would keep us safe."
His voice cracked.
"But my father started hearing voices."
Seo-yeon's expression changed.
"He kept saying someone was calling him outside."
Do-hyun squeezed his eyes shut.
"My mother begged him not to open the door."
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"He opened it anyway."
No one interrupted.
"The infected were waiting."
He covered his face with both hands.
"They... they took my parents."
Yuna quietly began to cry.
Seo-yeon wrapped an arm around the little girl while keeping her eyes on Do-hyun.
"I ran."
He laughed bitterly.
"I didn't even look back."
Mrs. Park gently rested a hand on his shoulder.
"You survived."
"It doesn't feel like I did."
---
Ji-hoon stepped toward the church window and carefully peeked outside.
The street remained empty.
Too empty.
He had learned not to trust silence.
Behind him, Seo-yeon whispered, "Do you think he's infected?"
"I don't know."
"He doesn't have black eyes."
"Not yet."
Those two words hung heavily in the air.
Ji-hoon hated saying them.
But everyone was thinking the same thing.
Do-hyun looked up.
"I heard you."
He slowly stood.
"If you think I'm dangerous..."
His voice trembled.
"...I'll leave."
Seo-yeon immediately shook her head.
"No."
"Seo-yeon—"
She turned toward Ji-hoon.
"We don't know if he's infected."
"We also don't know that he isn't."
She looked back at Do-hyun.
"Until we know the truth, no one gets abandoned."
Ji-hoon stared at her for a long moment before finally nodding.
"Then we keep him under observation."
Relief flooded Do-hyun's face.
"Thank you."
---
Several miles away...
The survivors on the rooftop of Haedong Boarding High School prepared to leave.
The rusted maintenance bridge groaned in the wind.
Min-jae tested it with one careful step.
The metal creaked beneath his weight.
"It'll hold," he said, though he wasn't completely sure.
Soo-bin stepped beside him.
"You don't have to go first."
"Yes, I do."
"If something happens—"
"It should happen to me before it happens to everyone else."
She couldn't argue with that.
Taking a deep breath, Min-jae began crossing.
Each step echoed across the empty space between the buildings.
The bridge swayed.
Rust flaked from the railings.
Halfway across...
A loud c***k echoed beneath his feet.
Everyone froze.
Min-jae slowly looked down.
One of the support beams had split.
"Don't stop!" Soo-bin shouted.
He nodded and forced himself forward.
One step.
Another.
The maintenance building grew closer.
Finally, his feet touched solid concrete.
A wave of relief swept across the rooftop behind him.
"We can do this!" one student shouted.
One by one, the others started crossing.
The bridge groaned under their combined weight.
Min-jae waited anxiously on the opposite side, reaching out to help each survivor as they stepped off.
Eight people crossed safely.
Only one remained.
A frightened first-year student named Hyun-woo.
"I... I can't."
"You can," Min-jae called.
"Just keep looking at me."
The boy nodded.
He took one trembling step.
Then another.
Suddenly—
SNAP!
The bridge lurched violently.
A support cable broke free.
Hyun-woo screamed.
The entire bridge tilted.
"Grab the railing!" Min-jae shouted.
Hyun-woo reached for it just as another cable snapped.
The bridge collapsed.
Metal screamed against metal.
Min-jae threw himself forward and caught Hyun-woo's wrist.
The boy dangled high above the school courtyard.
Below them...
Hundreds of infected looked up.
Their black eyes locked onto the struggling student.
They began surging toward the fallen bridge.
"Hold on!" Min-jae yelled.
"I... I can't!"
Hyun-woo's grip slipped.
Min-jae pulled with everything he had.
His muscles burned.
Soo-bin grabbed Min-jae around the waist to keep him from falling.
"Together!" she shouted.
The others joined in.
Slowly...
Painfully...
They pulled Hyun-woo back onto the rooftop.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then Hyun-woo burst into tears.
"I'm sorry..."
Min-jae helped him to his feet.
"You're alive."
The words carried more meaning now than ever before.
---
Back at the church...
Ji-hoon stood alone outside near the entrance, keeping watch.
He quietly rolled up his sleeve.
The dark veins had spread farther.
His heart sank.
He clenched his fist.
"I don't have much time..."
Behind him, the church door opened softly.
Seo-yeon stepped outside.
"I knew I'd find you here."
Ji-hoon quickly pulled his sleeve down.
"You should be resting."
"So should you."
She stood beside him.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
The breeze carried the scent of rain.
"I'll find Min-jae," she said softly.
"I promised him I'd always come back."
Ji-hoon smiled.
"And you always keep your promises."
She leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I couldn't have made it this far without you."
His smile faltered.
He looked toward the dark horizon.
Quietly, so only he could hear, he whispered,
"I just hope... I can stay beside you long enough to see that promise come true."
Neither of them noticed the figure watching the church from across the street.
Hidden behind an abandoned bus, a man in a black tactical uniform lowered a pair of binoculars.
He wasn't infected.
And he wasn't alone.
He lifted a radio to his mouth.
"I've found them."
A crackling voice answered.
"Confirm."
The man never took his eyes off Seo-yeon.
"One female... one male... one child... two additional survivors."
A pause.
Then a chilling order came through the radio.
"Do not engage."
"Follow them."
"Especially the woman."
The transmission ended.
The stranger smiled faintly.
Then disappeared into the shadows.
- Writer
