Dashing outside of the cafeteria through the back door, you're in a trance as Su-Hyeok pulls you every which way, trying and ultimately failing to find even a sliver of escape.

"Whatever happens, don't let go," Su Hyeok says as he locks your fingers together, giving it a quick squeeze.

Your hopes at a chance of survival dwindle as all paths around you begin and end with the undead.

That is, until Su-Hyeok stops short and you notice the school's groundskeeper balancing perilously atop a single step of the high-rise ladder meant for cleaning windows. You have nothing but respect for the older man combatting away with the sharp garden shears in his possession, cursing all the while as numerous zombies vie for his attention beneath his feet.

Despite his efforts, one eventually succeeds in clutching onto his ankle, hauling him to the ground as the ladder topples along with your heart at the macabre scene of his turning.

Zoning out the screech of terror and squelching of mutilation, you and Su-Hyeok glance at one another simultaneously, knowing that the ladder left behind from the gardener's death was the sole chance for you to live.

In the classroom a few floors up, Cheong-San and On-Jo pound frantically and desperately on the wooden doors as Gyeong-Su and Wu-Jin struggle with all their might to keep it shut from the inside.

"Don't you dare open that door! I'm warning you! We can only trust those in this room right now. What makes you think they made it out of the cafeteria all in one piece?" Na-Yeon slates. "Lock. The. Door," she stresses through clenched teeth.

Cheong-San slides open the window at last and sticks his head in. "I swear if you don't open the door right this minute, Gyeong-Su!"

Seeing his friend alive is enough confirmation for Gyeong-Su, even if it's not for Wu-Jin. Disregarding the protests, he musters up all his strength and shoves Wu-Jin tumbling into the corner. Finally seeing On-Jo unharmed, I-Sak runs over to give her a hug. "Are you okay? What about the others?"

"Yeah I'm oka-" On-Jo's reply is cut short as Dae-Su all but charges into the room from the sliding door being left ajar.

"What the hell? Who are you?" Wu-Jin questions as he prepares to push out the intruder.

"How can you not recognize your brother-in-law? Have we not been on the same page all these years?"

"In my defense, we were never even in the same library," Wu-Jin counters, but allows Dae-Su the right of passage anyway. As Dae-Su plops down in a nearby chair much too small for him, he swipes at his face, not that that was much help seeing as his whole body was covered in white sodium bicarbonate powder. "Did you fight with a snowman on the way here or what?"

Dae-Su glares at Wu-Jin. "No, some crazy jerk decided to hose me down with a fire extinguisher. I must've been too hot in their eyes."

Not knowing how to tell him otherwise, Cheong-San ignores the statement entirely, going to look out the window, agitated and guilty for losing sight of you in the madness. You and On-Jo would be his priority from now on, and he'd do whatever it takes to safeguard the two of you, even if it meant trading his own life to do so.

Sensing his unrest, On-Jo comes by and links her arm through his. "Chae-Wol will be alright. Su-Hyeok wouldn't let anything happen to her." She gives Cheong-San a slight smile, which he returns, welcoming the much-needed reassurance.

"Why are these zombies so fucking fast? When I watched The Walking Dead, they didn't have this much endurance or speed. What, does Korean kimchi make them run faster than American cheese?" Dae-Su exhales loudly.

"Well, this definitely isn't The Walking Dead. It's Train to Busan," Cheong-San mumbles.

Nam-Ra looks downward as Cheong-San turns away briefly. "Is that-"

Someone's palm slamming into the window surface sends Cheong-San whipping back around, causing On-Jo to jump away, back next to I-Sak. "It's Bare-Su!"

Dae-Su and Wu-Jin run over frantically. "Hurry, push him off!" Wu-Jin tries to close the window at the same time Cheong-San pries it open.

"Chae-Wol is with him!" Nam-Ra shouts, alerting everyone to two more survivors.

Hearing your name, Wu-Jin relents and rushes to aid Su-Hyeok over the windowpane along with Cheong-San and Dae-Su—not that he really needed much assistance.

As soon as Su-Hyeok's toes touch the ground, he's back to throwing his body out the window again, leaning over with his arms outstretched. "Chae-Wol, hurry! Climb up!"

Both Wu-Jin and Cheong-San observe anxiously as you dodge advancing zombies while Dae-Su holds Su-Hyeok back from toppling headfirst out the window.

You ascend as fast as you can manage with red drenched hands swiping at your feet. The grasp of death clamps down onto your left ankle in a vice-like grip, resulting in you losing balance momentarily as that was the foot you were currently stepping on, your right leg in midair trying to step onto the next rung. Su-Hyeok's eyes widen in horror as your hands slip for a second. You didn't realize you were holding your breath until you steady yourself once more, kicking one zombie right in the face with a sickening crunch to its nose, sending it flying backwards.

Enough. Dad taught me better than this.

You start climbing two steps at a time, just as a former teacher in a sweater vest knocks into the base of the ladder with the entire force of his body, disrupting the means for it to stand upright.

With all his might, Su-Hyeok sticks his arm out as far as it will go, and you briefly wonder if you'd make it as you jump. Your fingertips barely graze Su-Hyeok's but he grabs it nonetheless, straining to keep you from slipping, dangling by sheer will. Looking up into his eyes, your heart hammers in your chest as a zombie horde flock together below, awaiting your fall.

Wu-Jin also reaches down, and you gather your strength to swing your other arm up for him to take as you throw one leg onto the window ledge with the pull of both boys. Your exposed knee scrapes painfully on the cement wall, but it was the least of your concerns at the moment, already having had enough of playing this life-or-death game. You're kneeling haphazardly on the edge with your arms around Su-Hyeok's shoulders as he pulls you into the classroom, before collapsing in a heap on the floor after making sure you weren't harmed, exhausted and in disbelief.

Nam-Ra is about to approach you, relief evident in her features, when without warning, Wu-Jin pulls you into an unexpected hug, surprising you. You spot Nam-Ra's eyebrows rise up at the sight before she gives you a nod and heads back to her seat by the windows, signature earbuds back in.

It wasn't that you weren't friends, you were just more inclined to label Wu-Jin as a classmate or even an acquaintance at best. You were closer to his older sister, Ha-Ri, and even then, that was completely unintentional, the meeting accidental.

Back then, you had missed out on a message from your club members that your meeting was postponed, showing up to the gymnasium in the middle of archery practice like a deer in headlights. You never felt more out of place standing like a human target as arrows flew every which way, Ha-Ri's narrowly missing your eye before embedding in the target's center to your left.

Of course, an apology ensued before she ushered you to the bleachers and coolly told you to either pick up some skills if you were simply going to watch, or if you were so inclined, she'd be more than happy to help you practicing shooting.

You didn't know Wu-Jin was her brother, or that he was also there during practice until he came down and sat awkwardly next to you per his sister's request to entertain you. You could somewhat see the resemblance, but their auras were too different in your eyes: Ha-Ri's no-nonsense attitude against Wu-Jin's all-nonsense personality.

From that day onward, you'd stop by during shooting sessions just to hang out with Ha-Ri and by proxy, Wu-Jin, though he was always the first one to approach you. Somehow, you had become his sister's favorite underclassman and even learned techniques, not that you were any good with a bow and arrow. Ha-Ri would relentlessly tease Wu-Jin, making him stand behind targets knowing how much of a wimp he could be at times.

You remember Ha-Ri encouraging you to shoot, regardless of your fear of piercing her brother in the heart. To that, she cryptically had said, "Can't repeat what's already been done."

You're too shocked to return the hug, but before you could dwell on it, Wu-Jin lets go quickly, almost as if he finally remembered where you guys were. Awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, he says, "I'm glad you're alright."

He still looked mildly worried, and deciding to rid of the awkward atmosphere, you inquire about his sister. "Have you seen Unnie or had any contact with her?" Wu-Jin shakes his head at that, on the cusp of saying more, but Cheong-San, On-Jo, and I-Sak coming by to squeeze the life out of you interrupts him. You shoot him an apologetic look as you're hoarded, but he doesn't seem to mind as Dae-Su quickly engages him in a conversation only the two could comprehend.

Not knowing what else to do, everyone ultimately decides to find a way to contact emergency services, in hopes of alerting first responders about the situation. You weren't too optimistic about the idea, recalling the inconvenient rule of phone confiscation, but it wouldn't hurt to try. The options were running low as far as you were concerned.

You and Su-Hyeok decide to dig in the desk openings at the back of the classroom while the other girls searched the front few rows.

"Hey! Joon-Yeong. I'm telling you these idiots can't open doors on their own!" Gyeong-Su exclaims to your right, letting go of the sliding doors briefly.

True to his words, you only hear growling from outside, but it wasn't in the zombies' capacity to open doors.

A paranoid Joon-Yeong refuses to test out the waters. "Perhaps we should hold it shut for now. I don't want to face the repercussions of letting our guard down."

Gyeong-Su groans but does as suggested, while Joon-Yeong goes back to rummaging for phones.

Of course, Na-Yeon has to give her two-cents. "If that door opens and we all die, it'll be your fault completely," she directs at Gyeong-Su. "We'll know who to blame."

You're glad Gyeong-Su is too preoccupied by the zombies plastered to the door to pay her any attention, but your patience was already running thin. Not wanting to make a scene, especially in such an already horrendous setting, you opt for glaring daggers into the back of Na-Yeon's head, envisioning that the arrows from archery quivers were flying straight from your eyes.

Someone's hand cupping your face has you flinching, before you register it's Su-Hyeok's. A small chuckle escapes him as you turn his way, still scowling. "You resemble a displeased cat when you're mad." He runs his thumb over your glabella, smoothing out the creased lines on your forehead between your eyebrows. "We can't have such a beautiful face like this all scrunched up now, can we?" You try to lean away from his touch halfheartedly, knowing that he could feel the heat rising to your cheeks, but he doesn't let you. Su-Hyeok moves his finger from your forehead down across your eyes following slope of your nose before finally running it lightly across your lips, stretching it into a smile. "Much better." He shoots you a crooked grin and you can't help but smile wider.

The moment is quickly interrupted as I-Sak holds up a phone triumphantly. "I found one! Thank goodness Yeong-Ju hid one in her backpack."

You pull Su-Hyeok by the hand to gather around the precious find as Na-Yeon all but nags about the locked phone. Without another word, Cheong-San takes the phone and holds it up to a female zombie outside, who you assume is Yeong-Ju, not that you had any context to go by. You hold yourself back from laughing; it's really not the time, but you can barely contain it when Cheong-San resorts to Face ID.

"Steve Jobs must be proud that his product is so useful," you hear Dae-Su tell Wu-Jin, and you absolutely lose it on the inside, trying with all your might to keep your laughter in.

Su-Hyeok shoots you an amused look before advising Cheong-San to place the phone closer, the latter obliging.

"Guys," you interrupt, nearly dumbstruck at the illogicality. "That would only work if her face was still intact. The ID in Face ID is for identification but the ID in your method right now can only stand for one thing: Is Disfigured."

Cheong-San is sheepish as On-Jo removes the phone from his hand. "Good thing emergency calls can go through without all this trouble. We don't need to unlock it."

"Finally, someone with common knowledge." Na-Yeon throws her hands up in mock praise.

You roll your eyes and hold back from saying, "Well it's obviously not you."

"Tell that to poor Steve Jobs. His Face ID doesn't even work for all faces." Dae-Su sounds incredibly disappointed, and you don't have the heart to tell him that he wasn't the one who added that feature.

Before you can stop him, Cheong-San makes the mistake of reporting a zombie attack to the police. You mentally facepalm as On-Jo scolds him, knowing full well the operators could hear them on the receiving end of the line. You don't blame the call station, as any other day aside from this one you would have a hard time believing it yourself. Even though you're in this situation, you still wonder if it's too late to pinch yourself and figure out whether it's a dream or not.

Luckily, with her quick thinking, On-Jo dials the fire station instead. Though initially turned down when asking for her dad, she changes her words and details a fire, which was sure to gain attention. In any case, it was believable, unlike the zombie outbreak Cheong-San had described. Just as she hangs up, a distant scream rings out down the hallway outside as zombies chase after a pitiful girl, finally finding fresh meat.

Silence ensues once more before Na-Yeon approaches Nam-Ra with purpose. "Are you just going to sit there ignoring everybody like you always do? Can't you do something? You were always Ms. Park's favorite being the top student and all. Clearly, she was mistaken."

You step in front of Nam-Ra protectively, offended in her stead. "What are you trying to say? Are you implying she doesn't deserve it?"

You can feel Nam-Ra holding onto your cuff sleeve from behind.

Na-Yeon turns to you, side-eyeing. "From day one, what has she done for us? Even now, it's an empty title, which means nothing if she can't back it up."

You hold your anger at bay, biting the inside of your cheek. "So, you expect her to give her all, and then what?" You step closer to Na-Yeon, challenging her. "Will you just stay still and receive everything in full?" You scoff. "Relationships are supposed to be symbiotic, not just parasitic. No one owes another any sort of thing. If you think that's how the world works, you'll wind up alone in the end."

Na-Yeon rolls her eyes at you, clearly displeased. "The class president can't talk for herself, is that it? She hasn't done anything right, and now even enlisted the help of this lap-dog to bark in her place." She smirks as she eyes you. "Dare I say...a bitch?"

"Don't talk to her like that!" Su-Hyeok, Cheong-San, and Wu-Jin all say at the same time, with varying levels of anger.

Su-Hyeok comes over and grabs your wrist just as you raise it, about to slap Na-Yeon.

"What is this, the Chae-Wol protection squad?" Na-Yeon looks on, almost appalled at being ganged up on. 

"Might want to be careful there. Pretty sure she doesn't quite need others to defend her. I don't think you should mess with someone who has a black-belt and can also locate your jugular with her eyes closed," Dae-Su warns before a look from Na-Yeon has him turning the other way like he wasn't the one who said it.

Nam-Ra finally rises and you watch as she calmly removes her earbuds and shakes her earlobes, annoyed. "I heard loud music can destroy your eardrums but if I wanted to ruin my hearing with useless sounds, listening to your nonsense should be enough, don't you think?" Na-Yeon turns red as Nam-Ra confronts her. "Do you want me to leave, head to the teacher's office and hold a meeting with our dear principal who clearly loves the students with all his heart?" Tauntingly, Nam-Ra crosses her arms and adds, "Will that appease you?"

"Why are you suddenly asking for my opinion?"

"Since you're so good at speaking where it's unwanted, I didn't think it'd be a problem." Na-Yeon opens her mouth to say more but Nam-Ra doesn't allow her the chance. "You've never treated me as such, but now that we're in this hellhole, I'm suddenly the classroom president? How funny. You're always evading responsibility."

"Everyone, let's just calm down," Su-Hyeok says, trying to deescalate the tension. "We already did everything we can, including alerting first responders, so how about we wait a little more?"

"Wait even longer?! Rescuers haven't arrived since!" Na-Yeon whines, running her fingers frustratingly through her hair, and passingly in your head, you hope she goes bald.

"Cut it out! You're not the only one afraid. How do you think we feel? Stop acting like you're the only one of importance!" Ji-Min snaps from the corner.

"Have you not been tuning in the entire time? That's why I'm telling them to hurry the fuck up and call so we can get out of here!"

"None of us want to be in this mess! If you don't think we're of any use then take action! Call and find a way out of here yourself!"

Hyo-Ryung has to hold Ji-Min back. You can't even say you're surprised that Na-Yeon herself was holding a war of nerves with nearly everyone in the room.

"I agree with what Su-Hyeok said earlier," Gyeong Su nods in the taller one's direction from his spot, still keeping guard by the doors. "We shouldn't be fighting already."

Na-Yeon whips around. "Oh, so now you have something to say as well? Who are you to stop us, you little fucker?"

Gyeong-Su lets go of the doorframe and gets all up in Na-Yeon's face. "Repeat that right now! Fucker?! Is that what you just called me?" Just as he's about to round on her, Cheong-San and Dae-Su hold him back, much to his chagrin and frustration. Incredibly wronged, Gyeong-Su tries to fight his way out of his friends' hold, to no avail. "Who the hell does this toothpick think she is? Did you both not hear how she addressed me?"

The door left unattended, a figure suddenly barges in, and on instinct, you feel Su-Hyeok'a hand slide from your wrist down to grab your hand, ready to protect you.

You breathe out a sigh of relief as you recognize the familiar P.E. teacher, Mr. Kang. The reprieve, though, is short-lived as you begin to wonder just how he made it all the way here, seemingly untouched.

"Kiddos, are you all okay?"

Having forgotten about the prior fight, Gyeong-Su studies Mr. Kang