POV: Jun-ho
The morning came too quickly.
The night had been long, punctuated by the eerie sound of the wind howling through the cracks in the dorm, the groaning of the barricades, and the distant, sickly noises that now seemed to haunt the island—sounds of the infected, pacing around our walls like hungry animals.
I hadn't slept. There hadn't been time for rest.
But now, as I stood at the window, staring into the shifting shadows of the trees just beyond the perimeter, the weight of responsibility felt heavier than ever.
"Help! Please! Help me!"
The voice cut through the still morning air, fragile but frantic. A student. One of ours. Struggling outside the barricade.
My pulse quickened. I couldn't tell who it was.
The voice was muffled, and I couldn't see through the thick wall of trees and the mess of overturned furniture. But I knew one thing: the infected were already swarming the area. There was no question—no rational question in my mind—that going out there was a death sentence. The student had already made a mistake by being outside the barricade.
But…was it too late to save them?
I pressed my hands against the cold window, trying to clear my thoughts. My stomach twisted with a mix of fear and guilt.
There was a brutal clarity to it all now, a razor-sharp line between life and death.
But if I went out there…what would I be willing to sacrifice? How far would I go? Would I risk others for one? The sound of the student's cries rang in my ears, but I shut them out, focusing on the growing storm of thoughts in my head.
I remembered the moral red lines I'd set for myself—the rules I'd clung to back when this nightmare had only just begun.
I couldn't kill an uninfected person. Not ever.
Even if survival demanded it. Even if it meant leaving someone to die.
It wasn't the first time I'd had to make decisions like this. I closed my eyes and found myself in a memory, one that flickered like a film reel, the edges blurry with time.
"You've got to know how to defend yourself." I told my cousin, his small frame squaring off against me on the wooden floor of our house. I was only a few years older, but I'd been teaching him basic self-defense techniques since he was old enough to walk.
He struggled to keep his balance, his movements awkward, but there was a determination in his eyes.
"Don't just throw punches." I had said, tapping him on the shoulder lightly. "You've got to think about the bigger picture. Sometimes, the best way to win is to walk away. But if you can't, you neutralize the threat."
Back then, it had been all about control, about restraint. Even when things were chaotic, I taught him to keep a cool head.
But now, things were different. The stakes were higher.
I opened my eyes, my breath shallow. The memory of my cousin's smile, his eager nods, and the way he trusted me made the decision even harder to stomach.
"You neutralize the threat…"
I clenched my fists, refocusing on the present.
"Jun-ho?" Ara's voice broke through my thoughts, soft and steady. She had approached me without making a sound, her presence comforting despite the tension in the air. I turned to her, my expression unreadable. She knew something was wrong.
"You're not going to let them die, are you?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
She didn't ask the question out loud, but I could hear the quiet concern in her tone, the way her eyes met mine, full of unspoken fear.
The kind of fear that only comes when you're close to someone. She wasn't just worried about the student. She was worried about me.
I didn't respond at first. I couldn't. There was too much swirling inside me, too much at stake.
"You have to make a choice. It's who you are. It's who you're becoming." She added quietly, her eyes locked on mine. Her words rang in my head. A leader. I was supposed to be a leader, but in this moment, the line between right and wrong was blurring.
"I'm not going to risk everyone else for one person." I exhaled slowly, steeling myself.
I turned to the students gathered inside the dorm. The room was tense, everyone of them aware of what was happening outside. Their eyes were full of uncertainty, the fear of the unknown settling like a weight on their shoulders.
Minjae was glaring at the barricade, his face twisted in frustration. "We can't just sit here and wait for it to get worse. We should be going after them, not playing it safe in here."
I could see it in his eyes—his impatience, his need for action. But I couldn't afford to let that dictate my choices. "Ara, stay here and keep an eye on the barricades. Minjae, you're with me." I said, my voice firm.
I could feel the weight of the decisions I was about to make settling like a stone in my gut. "Everyone else, stay quiet and keep your positions."
I didn't wait for any further objections. I turned and motioned for Minjae to follow me.
We made our way to the edge of the dorm, staying low and moving quickly. I knew where the student was; their cries had led us close enough to the perimeter. The infected had already started gathering—more than I'd expected. They were sluggish, aimless, but there were too many to ignore. I had to think fast.
I scanned the area. The student was still visible, but they were surrounded, backed into a corner. The infected weren't attacking yet—they were just…waiting. Watching.
I bit my lip, thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. The student was too far from the barricade for a quick rescue, and if we rushed in without a plan, we would become just another target for the infected.
I had no choice but to be smart.
"I'm going to draw them away. You cover me. Get ready to haul them in if I can get them close enough." I told Minjae, my voice low. Minjae scowled but nodded. He trusted me—whether he liked it or not.
I picked up a discarded tin can, tossing it into the forest at an angle. The clatter was enough. A few of the infected turned sluggish and confused. I tossed another, a little further this time.
The movement wasn't much, but it was enough to get the infected's attention. One by one, they began to shuffle away from the student, toward the noise.
The student's eyes locked on me, wide with fear, but I motioned for them to stay down.
My heart pounded as I watched the infected move farther into the forest. But the moment was fleeting. I had only a few seconds before they would return, and the student was still too far.
"Move now!" I hissed.
The student hesitated, their body frozen in terror. I didn't wait any longer. I sprinted forward, grabbing them by the arm and pulling them back toward the barricades. Behind me, I could hear the moaning of the infected as they began to turn back. I pushed the student ahead, my breath sharp in my chest as I fought the panic trying to rise in my throat.
We made it halfway before more infected appeared, stumbling through the trees. But we weren't far from safety. Just a little farther.
"Come on!" Minjae shouted, waving us in.
The student stumbled, but I grabbed their wrist, dragging them the last few feet toward the safety of the dorm.
With a final push, we were inside, the door slamming shut behind us. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, but it was thin, strained. The student collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air, but we were alive.
I turned to face the others. There was respect in their eyes now—something that hadn't been there before.
But it was fleeting.
A crackling noise came over the radio, breaking the silence. "Containment breach…do not approach…"
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I looked at Ara—she met my gaze, her face pale but steady. There was no time left to question. We had to keep moving.