Like the fourth floor, there were no signs of life.

‘I should’ve killed them sooner.’

I shouldn’t have handed Kim Hee-yeon the hunting knife.

I should have dealt with the men before they screamed.

Or Seol Yeo-won and Jeon Won-soo should’ve slit their throats instead of just subduing them…

I furrowed my brows and shook my head fiercely.

Thinking about the past wouldn’t help.

I steadied my breathing, which had quickened from the tension, and calmly inspected the condition of the classrooms.

Every classroom had narrow vertical glass panes on both the front and back doors that allowed me to peek inside as I walked through the hallway.

Then, I noticed something unusual near the back door of Room 505—a brownish liquid, now dried.

It didn’t seem to be excrement.

As I approached the door to check it more closely, I realized what it was.

Blood, dried and stuck to the floor.

The chunks of red matter scattered around indicated it hadn’t even been a day.

Was this where the girl named So-jeong had been killed?

Peering into the classroom, I couldn’t hide my disturbed thoughts.

The two women I hadn’t been able to find earlier—

They were already decaying, having become food.

A brutal world where the strong preyed on the weak.

Men, naturally stronger than women, had dominated.

Perhaps the result was inevitable.

With furrowed brows, I turned to look at the stairs leading to the rooftop.

Those who had abandoned their humanity…

The man named Cheol-min—I couldn’t let him die easily.

He had to feel the pain and guilt of his own sins.

Otherwise… I couldn’t calm the rage boiling inside me.

When I reached the rooftop, a large steel door blocked my way.

It was the same structure as the student council building.

I carefully twisted the handle, but the door was locked tight.

What should I do?

I couldn’t barge in recklessly, and there was a chance they had heard the screams of the dead men and were already lying in wait.

I needed to draw Cheol-min to the door.

If I couldn’t go in, I would make him come out.

The voices and mannerisms of the men I had just killed were still fresh in my mind.

One of them had even had a voice similar to mine.

If I used the urgency of the situation, I could throw Cheol-min off balance.

Recalling the tone of the dead man, I knocked loudly on the steel door and shouted,

“Cheol-min hyung! Cheol-min hyung! Open this up!”

---

Not long after, a voice came from beyond the steel door.

“…Seong-hyuk?”

“Hyung! We’re screwed! The zombies made it up to the third floor!”

“I heard screaming earlier. What about Jae-wook?”

“That bastard got bitten by a zombie! Hurry up and open this!”

“You didn’t get bitten?”

Not even a shred of camaraderie.

I banged on the steel door harder and shouted.

“Ah, hurry! The zombies are still coming up!”

“Then I definitely can’t open this, you idiot. If you’re going to die, die alone.”

Hah… Look at this bastard.

If the stick didn’t work, I’d tempt him with the carrot.

“You’re going to regret this if you don’t open up, hyung.”

“Why would I?”

“I know where there’s food.”

“…”

No response.

Is he thinking about it?

To stop him from taking too long, I stomped my foot impatiently and yelled,

“Come on, hurry!”

“Where is it?”

“The new student council building!”

“How do you know that?”

“I went outside with Kim Hee-yeon yesterday. There’s a crap-ton of food there!”

“You went outside?”

“Ah, for God’s sake, hyung, you were probably too busy screwing Seon-yeong to know! Hurry up and open the damn door!”

At the mention of Seon-yeong’s name, I heard more footsteps from behind the door.

So Seon-yeong was still alive?

I kept banging on the door, making myself sound as desperate as possible.

Cheol-min’s voice soon rang out again.

“Stop banging on the door, you lunatic! You want to attract zombies here?”

“Damn it! Then let me in!”

Click.

I heard the faint sound of a lock disengaging.

Without missing a beat, I pushed the door open forcefully with my left hand.

Before I could even assess the situation, I raised the hunting knife in my right hand.

Stepping onto the rooftop with my eyes blazing, I saw Cheol-min—completely naked.

Without hesitation, I swung the knife toward his right arm.

Slice—

“Arghhhhhh!!”

Cheol-min’s eyes widened in horror as if he’d seen a ghost. He collapsed backward, clutching his bleeding right arm as blood splattered everywhere.

His face contorted in terror, his body frozen in panic.

Without stopping, I struck his face with the hilt of the knife.

His nose caved in, and his eyes rolled back.

After subduing Cheol-min in an instant, I turned to look at the woman beside him.

Seon-yeong sat there trembling violently, her mouth agape as she stared at me as though I were some kind of monster.

“Sit.”

At that single word, Seon-yeong collapsed to the floor, too weak to resist.

There was no need to subdue her.

Should I kill her now?

No, I couldn’t let her die so easily.

I didn’t want to stain my hands any further.

The disgusting sensation of stabbing a living human with a hunting knife… I never wanted to feel it again.

Grabbing the unconscious Cheol-min by the hair, I dragged him down the stairs.

When Jeon Won-soo, who was watching the stairs, saw me, his eyes went wide as he asked,

“What the— is that Cheol-min?”

“I’ll explain later. If the woman upstairs comes down, restrain her.”

Jeon Won-soo stared at me, mouth agape, before nodding vigorously.

As soon as I reached the first floor, I severed Cheol-min’s Achilles tendon.

His eyes flew open, and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Arghhhh!!”

Groooaaarrrr… Growwlll!

From the far end of the opposite hallway, I could hear the cries of zombies.

The zombies outside the building were too far away to hear the scream, but the ones in the rest area definitely did.

The four zombies behind the glass started reacting.

Cheol-min, tears streaming down his face, grabbed my leg in desperation.

“Hey, hey! Please save me! Save me!”

His pathetic begging irritated me.

Save him?

That filthy mouth begging for mercy… was the same mouth that had tasted human flesh.

“Why would I?”

“I-I’m a survivor too!”

“You’re not a survivor.”

I kicked him off me and turned to check the opposite hallway.

Crash!

I heard the sound of glass shattering, followed by the heavy footsteps of zombies charging down the hallway.

I hurriedly ran up the stairs, leaving Cheol-min behind.

Unable to stand upright because his Achilles tendons had been severed, Cheol-min could only scream.

I reached about the third floor when—

“Arghhh! Aaaaahhhhhhh!”

From the first floor, I heard his screams of agony as he was torn apart alive.

---

When I returned to the third floor, I found Seon-yeong with Jeon Won-soo.

It seemed she had been caught while trying to escape.

When Seon-yeong saw my face, she panicked and rushed toward me, grabbing my hand.

“T-Thank you!”

“…Excuse me?”

“Thank you for saving me! I-I was trapped by those bastards too!”

What a sly little fox.

I already knew everything, and now she’s acting like this?

Frowning, I asked her.

“You didn’t eat it?”

“O-Of course not! I’m a victim too!”

“Do you know Kim Hee-yeon or not?”

“Kim Hee-yeon? Hee-yeon! Of course I know her! We’re so close! Hee-yeon is…”

I stared at her silently instead of responding, and she nervously looked around, realizing something was wrong.

Seon-yeong let out an unsettling laugh and, with unfocused eyes, asked me,

“How do you know Kim Hee-yeon?”

“I came here with her.”

At that, Seon-yeong froze like a stone statue, then grabbed my shoulders with both hands and pleaded.

“I’ll do well. Okay? I’ll make you feel good.”

I harshly brushed her hands off and stepped back.

This crazy…

It was terrifying.

The chill running down my spine made my hair stand on end.

It was a different kind of fear than when facing zombies.

I could see exactly how a woman like Seon-yeong had survived up to now.

Jeon Won-soo, watching the exchange, looked between us with confusion and asked,

“Jae-hyung, what about this woman…?”

“Leave her.”

“Here?”

“Tell her to survive on her own.”

It might seem cruel.

But the woman in front of me now was nothing more than a leech.

Wherever she went, she spread her poison.

She was the kind of person who would do anything to survive.

How could I trust someone like her to have my back?

No matter how much I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, I couldn’t see her as a victim.

Seon-yeong stared blankly at me before her face turned red, and she began spitting curses, unable to control her emotions.

Her sharp, screeching voice made my eardrums throb painfully.

Frowning, I gripped my knife handle tightly.

“Will you shut up?”

“You son of a b****!”

“You want to join Cheol-min?”

“Kill me! Just kill me too!”

I struck her temple with the handle of the knife.

Seon-yeong’s eyes rolled back as she collapsed to the ground with a groan.

I hadn’t meant to hit her, but I couldn’t let her noisy mouth put my group in danger.

Turning to Jeon Won-soo, I asked,

“What about Yeo-won and Kim Hee-yeon?”

“They’re doing much better now.”

“Let’s move before it gets too late. It’ll be hard to move after sundown.”

Jeon Won-soo nodded and entered the classroom where Seol Yeo-won and Kim Hee-yeon were resting.

Soon after, the two of them stepped out, looking calm and composed as they faced me.

Kim Hee-yeon glanced at Seon-yeong lying behind me and asked,

“Is it over now?”

“Yes.”

“What about that woman… what are you going to do with her?”

“We’re leaving her here…”

Before I could finish, Seon-yeong crawled across the floor, clinging to Kim Hee-yeon’s legs.

“Hee-yeon, Hee-yeon, it’s me. You know me, right? We had good times in school, remember?”

“And what about when you hit So-jeong?”

“What?”

“When So-jeong and I refused to eat, you laughed and mocked us.”

“That’s not… Look, the situation was unavoidable, okay? How can anyone live perfectly straight? You have to be flexible! Don’t you think?”

Kim Hee-yeon bit her lower lip, clearly conflicted.

But it wasn’t long before she furrowed her brows and said,

“Then survive here with your flexibility.”

“You— you b****! You think this is your world now?”

“…”

“You’re all high and mighty now, aren’t you? Do you think I don’t know? Acting all proud because you’ve got someone protecting you? Huh?”

Kim Hee-yeon sighed, sounding almost pitying as she replied,

“You’re just helping me let go of any lingering attachment.”

Hearing that, Seon-yeong’s face turned blank for a moment before she suddenly switched her tone.

“No, no! Hee-yeon, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I went too far again, didn’t I? I… I’m sorry! Really!”

“Let’s go.”

Kim Hee-yeon turned to me, her voice cold and resolute.

As we walked down the opposite hallway, we could hear Seon-yeong’s wailing from behind us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced back.

Seon-yeong didn’t follow us. She could only cry and scream curses into the air.

Even she knew.

Like oil and water, we were fundamentally different.

We would never be able to coexist.

---

By the time we arrived at the student council building, the western sky was glowing orange with the setting sun.

Seol Yeo-won and Jeon Won-soo, exhausted, collapsed onto the folding beds in the club room.

Lee Jeong-woo called out to them, but no one responded.

They lay on the beds with their eyes tightly shut.

Lee Jeong-woo looked confused and turned to me, mouthing the word “Why?”

I shook my head, unable to give him an answer.

I was sorry… but I didn’t have the energy to explain everything right now.

I was too exhausted, and far too much had happened in such a short time.

Sensing the atmosphere, Lee Jeong-woo let out a bitter sigh and didn’t press further.

Jung Jin-young, Choi Hyun, and Yoon Hye-ri watched us anxiously, saying nothing.

They didn’t need an explanation. Just looking at our faces, they could tell how dire the situation had been.

Kim Hee-yeon stood by the door, hesitating with her head bowed.

It was as if she couldn’t decide whether to go into the photo club room or come into ours.

So I spoke first.

“What are you waiting for? Come in.”

“Pardon? Oh… I…”

“Come in.”

I opened the door for her, and she entered the Sorigeol club room, her lips trembling.

Then I heard her soft, wavering voice.

“…Thank you.”

Her words carried a hint of tears.

There was nothing more to say.

I answered with a slight nod.

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