DON'T GO

"Let's go get up, I need to go check if Cheong-san is okay," I whispered in Su-hyeok's ear. We were the only two awake at who knows what time in the morning. He managed to get out of Nam-ra's grasp without waking her or anyone else and off we went. We didn't make it five steps before someone cleared their throat, Damnit. Slowly we turned around and came face to face with On-jo. "You're supposed to be asleep." She tilted her head to the left.

"Well I'm not, Cheong-san is my friend too. I want to know if he's okay." Su-hyeok and I nod our heads and the three of us make our way back through the woods. It was a silent walk, I took in all the broken pieces of concrete around us until I saw the outline of the building. It was still standing but not in the best shape, it definitely took some damage. It almost looked like only the shell of the building was left but it might just be because it was bombed not long ago. The zombies who tried to kill us the day before were now charcoal, there was no movement, no sound, not even the smell of smoke was in the air. I hmmed and Su-hyeok turned to me.

"CHEONG-SAN!!" No response.

"CHEONG-SAN!" Su-hyeok tried yelling after I did and soon all three of us were screaming his name. An internal panic started to set in when I realized we couldn't find him.

"Where is he?" I looked around. "Su-hyeok where is he?" On-jo was looking around cluelessly as I tugged at Su-hyeok's arm again as my panic grew but he was just as lost as me. In the heat of panic I wandered around hurriedly until On-jo grabbed my hand, I turned to her and she reached up to wipe my eyes. Having not realized that I was crying I quickly turned back and wiped my eyes.

"Y/N, " I looked at her again. Then my eyes fell to her hands. A small burnt tag lay there with ash around it, but the name was clear. Lee Cheong-san. My eyes didn't move from her hands and I kept re-reading his name in my head.

"Where did you find that?" On-jo turned her body slightly to the left and pointed at the elevator shaft. I looked back to Su-hyeok who had been observing the whole situation before walking to the shaft. There were remains of bodies in the shaft but all so fragile. If Cheong-san is in there, I can't get him back. My knees went weak and I dropped, I didn't bother hiding that I was crying but Su-hyeok ran up to me with On-jo in tow and dragged me to my feet.

"Y/N im sorry but we have to go, there are snarls in the distance, we have to run and warn the others." My sobs and sniffles were so loud to me I couldn't hear anything else as I let them drag me with them. It wasn't long before I regained myself and Su-hyeok was briefing the whole group on what we'd done. Hyo-ryung and Wu-jin helped Dae-su to his feet and we started on our path to Yang-dong. My sadness was evident to the group who were also put down by knowing what happened to Cheong-san. Walking through the woods was a different experience. No one said a word and all we could hear was the crunching of leaves. I walked ahead of the group with On-jo holding my hand. She'd found a tie her father left on a tree and we decided it'd be a good idea to follow his trail backwards. Another body came up next to us.

"It's all because of me." Nam-ra. "The soldiers must have thought we were all not completely human." I didn't know what had happened on the roof but I know that nothing is her fault.

"If it's on you, it's on me too. We're in the same boat Nam-ra." On-jo turned to us both.

"Don't talk like that."

"Are you sure it's safe for me to even stay with you guys?" Nam-ra's question repeated in my head as we walked. Was it safe? Would they let us in with the others?

"You are both our friends and this group wouldn't have made it far without either of you. We don;t care if you're art zombie, as long as you're both okay we're ok. You two will never turn into zombies." On-jo's words eased my mind but doubt still lingered.