The next time you open your eyes, Nam-Ra is standing fronting the sole high window in the room, gazing upward at it.

"What is it?" you ask. "Do you see something?"

Your voice wakes Su-Hyeok, and he sleepily sits up, lifting his head from your lap. When he scoots to sit beside you, finally, you're able to stretch out your legs, allowing them much-needed circulation.

"The smell got stronger." She's still not facing you yet, craning her head as far as it will go to get a feel for the surroundings.

At her words, Dae-Su oversights it for something else entirely and begins to inhale powerfully, sniffing his clothes and armpits for body odor. "I don't smell anything," he mumbles to himself, faintly insulted.

"It seems as though there are a lot of zombies coming this way, judging by their scent. I can sense them."

"Well," Joon-Yeong drones, "we're trapped here with no way out."

Hyo-Ryung whacks him on the shoulder. "Don't be so pessimistic."

"I'm trying not to be, but it's true we can't afford to leave."

"Whatever," Dae-Su settles. "Let them kill us if they want." He dejectedly goes to stand in the same spot Nam-Ra had just occupied, but at the sound of Wu-Jin speaking to Ha-Ri, he turns around, attentive.

"Noona, you didn't get eliminated in the archery preliminaries, did you?" The room isn't spacious by any means, so any and all private conversations might as well be a public one.

"Who do you take me for? Of course, I passed." Ha-Ri's not looking her brother in the eye, but her statement is poised enough to fool anyone.

"But, why did you come to school when you had a tournament?" Wu-Jin brings up a great point, come to think of it, except Mi-Jin sidles in before he can stew on the implications of that train of thought.

"You her brother?"

"Yeah," Wu-Jin replies.

"Your sister here got a perfect score and made it onto the national team. I saw her."

Cheerfully, Wu-Jin turns to his sister like an enthusiastic puppy. "Really?!"

"It's true." Ha-Ri's excitement-if it can be seen as that-doesn't quite match up to Wu-Jin's, her lips pressed together in a tight line to resemble a smile, albeit strained.

"Do Mom and Dad know of your success?" Wu-Jin grabs Ha-Ri's shoulders and shakes her in congratulations, unable to contain his elation.

"Look at what has been going on," Mi-Jin grouches. "How could they possibly hear about it?" Pointing a thumb toward Ha-Ri, and moving her hand back and forth at the wrist, she adds, "Your sister jumped off the team bus and ran here to look for you, high and low. She wasn't going to stop until she ransacked this whole school, so be good to her." Mi-Jin looks him dead in the eyes, including as an afterthought, "Treat me well too."

Wu-Jin's eyebrows scrunch together in puzzlement, a little put off by a stranger telling him what to do and regarding him like they hadn't just met hours ago. He cups a hand around his mouth and leans conspiratorially toward his sister to tattle in true younger brother fashion, whispering not so subtly, "Who is this girl anyway, and why is she speaking for you like you can't speak for yourself?"

Ha-Ri turns to Mi-Jin, looking proud. "She's my friend."

The corner of Mi-Jin's mouth lifts upward, though she tries to suppress it under the guise of a scoff. "Pft, we're basically besties."

You watch as Dae-Su stomps over with purpose toward their group, standing in their line of sight and blocking their flow of discourse.

When he faces forward again, Wu-Jin jumps at the unexpected addition of a person that wasn't there before, too immersed in the conversation. "Geez, you scared me."

Mi-Jin tilts her head in Dae-Su's direction. "What's your deal?"

Ignoring her completely, he puts a fist to his mouth and clears his throat before straightforwardly proclaiming, "I like you, Ha-Ri noona."

Joon-Yeong chokes on his laughter as he tries to stifle it, your side of the room all turning your heads to the left to watch the scene unfold, enrapt like it's a weekday drama.

"Crazy bastard," Wu-Jin mutters, incredulous. "What'd I tell you on the roof?" He shakes his head at his friend.

Pretending he doesn't hear Wu-Jin, Dae-Su rushes on with his speech. "I saw you shooting arrows and train each morning, though you never noticed. Even so, I went to every tournament to cheer you on, yelling the nickname 'Bronze Beauty Jang Ha-Ri' I coined for you." You snort as Wu-Jin muffles his sister's ears with his hands, mortified, though you have to admit she looks pretty amused regardless. "I've sincerely liked you for years. Your face is nice, but you're even nicer. I want to be around you a lot, and your face, not just as a fan but a man." Mi-Jin looks like she'll implode any minute if she represses her laugh a second longer. You facepalm listening to Dae-Su's confession going downhill, and it's going pretty fast. "That's why I stand here in front of you today. I'm going to die anyway, so I want to get this off my chest first. It's been a long time coming."

Though certain Dae-Su is finished, Wu-Jin withdraws his hands from Ha-Ri's ears hesitantly, just in case.

"Daebak..." Mi-Jin exclaims at the end of it, looking thoroughly impressed. "You've got guts, kid."

Ha-Ri is unfazed and swiftly responds, "You're Dae-Su right? The one who always refers to Wu-Jin as brother-in-law."

"Ah, yes, so you knew." Dae-Su beams joyfully and shuffles his feet, both hands clasped together against his chest over his heart. "Brother-in-law, did you tell her?" he turns to address Wu-Jin.

"Maybe."

Ha-Ri removes her hand from her jacket pocket and stretches it out for Dae-Su to pull her up, but he's so polite he uses both hands to help her stand, wide grin bordering on splitting his face.

"Does confessing feel cathartic to you?" she questions vaguely.

"Yes." Dae-Su shyly looks downward, unable to sustain eye contact with his crush for an extended period of time.

"Then, you're okay with dying, right? You're so happy you could die?"

"Yes," Dae-Su repeats instinctively, before his head snaps up once he realizes the situation. "You mean right now? I don't think-"

Your eyes widen as Ha-Ri doesn't let Dae-Su finish and throws a punch to his stomach, a kick to his knees, and a slap to the back of his head when he's bent over in pain. Joon-Yeong flinches in front of you, the others in disbelief at the sight, mouths hanging open.

"I'm pissed off and need to vent, so thanks for volunteering to be my punching bag."

"At least she no longer has many arrows left?" you supply as Nam-Ra elbows you, throwing you a look despite trying to hide her chuckle.

"Brother-in-law! Stop her!" Dae-Su beseeches rowdily, crawling on his hands and knees toward Wu-Jin as Ha-Ri continues her attacks.

"You're dead."

"Noona, no." Wu-Jin initially holds her legs to halt her, but seeing her outraged, he does it half-heartedly the second time around, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

"I am sorry, I was wrong in my actions," Dae-Su spits out much too formally, intimidated. "I didn't mean it in the way you're thinking. I was trying to.... tease you. That's what you do, right? When you have feelings for someone?"

"No, no, don't apologize," Ha-Ri refutes as she steps closer, compelling Dae-Su to hide behind a volleyball cart next to Su-Hyeok to block her off. "I'm glad you decided to tell me now at the worst time possible."

Su-Hyeok inches closer to you, daunted, and you find the whole ordeal incredibly hilarious, everyone staying inobtrusive out of fear of Ha-Ri.

Dae-Su peers at her over the top edge of the metal cart, not daring to move even an inch. "That wasn't my intention."

"Yes, it was," Ha-Ri argues. "Come here, now."

Whichever direction Ha-Ri leans toward, Dae-Su dodges remarkably well, even with all her feints. "Noona, why don't you understand? I really do like you."

"Aish." Hands on the cart, she tries to rattle it, but Dae-Su's bigger build keeps it in place, shielding him perfectly. "Why don't you come over to this side and we can talk?"

"Wu-Jin," Dae-Su calls out, though his friend is too busy laughing with Mi-Jin over his predicament.

"Noona, hwaiting!" he cheers on his sister genuinely, pumping a fist into the air. "Beat that bozo up!"

As encouraged, Ha-Ri sticks her hand into the cart, the supply of volleyballs endless for her perusal. She lobs at least dozens at Dae-Su in retaliation for being obstructed.

"Look at him ducking," Mi-Jin points out, snickering so hard she has to hold onto her side.

"What's that?!" Dae-Su abruptly shouts, pointing behind Ha-Ri, and somehow, she falls for the trick, unintentionally buying him time to turn around and grab a helmet to place on his head when she's distracted.

One ball. "Asshole." Another ball. "Step out and own up to your words." Three balls and counting. "You're going to keep hiding?"

As the two skirt to the side to resume their childlike fight, Su-Hyeok stands up suddenly, studying the cart as he drops a ball into the bin. Wordlessly, he jiggles and kicks the rolling carts around, assessing.

Joon-Yeong eyes him, inquisitive, and prompts, "What are you doing?"

"Don't you think we can get out using these?" At his words, Ha-Ri pauses to listen and Dae-Su decisively deems it safe to pop up from behind another cart, like a broken jack-in-the box. "We can tie the carts together in a ring and encircle ourselves inside to escape."

"Every time we had a new idea, someone had to sacrifice themselves for our plan to work out in the end," Hyo-Ryung murmurs, almost hesitant in speaking the naked truth.

"Then, let's not do that," On-Jo resolves. "It's all of us or none of us. Our safety will not be at the expense of anyone."

"We can't give up when we haven't even tried, guys," you encourage. "Fighting spirit goes a long way."

Eventually, everyone is on board, rummaging around the room for functional materials, whether that be to connect the carts or as weapons of defense.

Joon-Yeong surveys the room, checking on everyone's progress. "We need string, but I think as a last resort, jump ropes could work as a substitute too if we cut as many as possible."

You start gathering protective gear, amassing an extended variety of shoulder, chest, elbow, and knee pads for extra safety measures. On second thought, you throw in shin pads as a precaution to shield everyone's forearms, the riskiest and most exposed appendage, especially during melees.

A few feet away, Cheong-San is drilling wooden square slabs to the top of the ball bins over the lattice work of the metal, doubling as both a lid and a cover. The rest of the girls, on the other hand, load renovated carts now devoid of balls up with mats to buffer any openings that would allow room for the zombies to reach through or get in between the posts.

Mi-Jin clucks her tongue haughtily, clearly disapproving. "It won't work like this." She shakes the carts, jarring them loudly before circling her pointer finger in a roundabout motion. "We should flip them around and crawl underneath it."

"Eyy," Dae-Su drawls, opposing her statement. "Standing it up like we originally planned is good."

Rolling her eyes, Mi-Jin further proves her point, quarreling, "You think those fucking creatures can't climb this? I've seen them scale walls!"

"This is enough," Wi-Jin reconciles inflexibly but civilly.

"Don't be stupid, little juniors," Mi-Jin nags before ordering, "Untie all of this. We need to redo them."

You turn to Su-Hyeok, sensing a fight coming on. "This is going to escalate fast."

He nods, staring ahead, waiting for the right time to intervene if needed. "She's pretty hot-headed and I don't think Joon-Yeong takes lightly to being told he's wrong."

"It's too short if we close the lids." Joon-Yeong crosses his arms and stares Mi-Jin down, annoyed. "What? Would you prefer to crawl?" He casts his eyes away before mumbling under his breath, chiding with intent for her to hear, "To pull rank at a time like this..." Acting as if nothing happened, Joon-Yeong proceeds to raise the lid of the cart in front of him, one of the many Cheong-San bolted with wood, inspecting his proposed design.

You grimace as Mi-Jin slams shut what Joon-Yeong just opened, the sound of metal clanking exceptionally noisy as it echoes through the room. Joon-Yeong is barely able to pull his hands away in time before his fingers get smashed in. "What did you just say?" she grits out, jaw tense.

"I said," Joon-Yeong responds, not abandoning his stance. "If you don't like what we agreed on, then make it yourself."

Instead of a comeback, Mi-Jin opts to shoving Joon-Yeong's head roughly with the palm of her hand so harshly to teach him a lesson that his neck snaps forward, automatically bowing.

"What's wrong with you?!" Wu-Jin defends his friend before turning to his sister, exasperated. "Noona, can you tell her to quit picking fights?"

Ha-Ri hasn't yet to say a word before Joon-Yeong restarts in telling off Mi-Jin. "So, what if you're older? Hierarchy has no importance here. Stay out of our way."

He moves amid her and Wu-Jin, desiring to end the fight, but of course, Mi-Jin won't let it go that easily, jostling Joon-Yeong from behind. "Yah," she calls out lowly. "Say that one more time, I dare you." Joon-Yeong miraculously manages to block Mi-Jin's next punch, but she kicks his shin instead and he crumples in pain momentarily, rubbing at the sore spot.

"Fuck. You." Joon-Yeong glowers as he enunciates his words.

"Fuck you?" Mi-Jin repeats, unbelieving. "Fuck you?!" Right as she swipes at Joon-Yeong, Wu-Jin yanks him away and Su-Hyeok steps in between them.

"Cut it out," he tells her curtly, sighing tiredly. "You too, Joon-Yeong. Please."

"Who the hell is this Dora the Explorer headass telling us to rebuild from scratch?"

"You rude bastard," Mi-Jin spits back.

Su-Hyeok angles his body, using it to keep the two separated from one another. "You're coming with us, right?"

"My ass," Mi-Jin retorts. "You're the ones coming with us, and don't you forget it."

Su-Hyeok swivels his head the other way, talking to Joon-Yeong. "We're not going to leave the seniors behind, right?"

"Of course not," Joon-Yeong speaks up without hesitation. Despite the argument, he was never the type to abandon someone over something so petty.

Su-Hyeok exhales in frustration, rubbing at his temples, sick of having to play at being the middle man. "Our groups are going together anyway. Why are you both actling ike this?"

"All I want is for us to stack the carts high so that we won't be at death's doorstep," Joon-Yeong emphasizes, looking straight at Mi-Jin with a hand on his hip.

"So much for wanting to live." Mi-Jin points a finger at him. "Do as I say unless you want to perish."

"Stop." Su-Hyeok pushes both of their shoulders in opposite directions. "How many died on our way here? We can't lose anyone else," he gets out shakily, growing emotional thinking about how fast the group dwindled over the past few days. "Nothing good will come out of us fighting among ourselves."

Doggedly, Joon-Yeong ripostes, "I'm not fighting to die. I'm fighting to live."

"But you still won't listen to me. Asshole."

Getting riled up again at her name-calling, Joon-Yeong shunts the cart, nearly running it over Mi-Jin's foot before it stops itself in the nick of time. "Fine!" he shouts. "Have it your way and just go independently. Do everything as you wish, and you can make your own defense while you're at it too." Infuriated, he stomps over tp where Wu-Jin and Dae-Su are standing in front of you.

"You little-" Su-Hyeok impedes her by the shoulders and she looks like she wants to punch him too. "That fucker!" she screeches after Joon-Yeong, trying to sidestep Su-Hyeok. "You think I'm doing this because I want to?! It's for all of our sakes! Bring your ass back over here-"

On the other side of the room, Nam-Ra flings a metal cart against the wall so hard it seems like it'll leave a dent. Due to the loud sound and not wanting to face the repercussions of Nam-Ra's anger, everyone in the immediate vicinity gives her their undivided attention.

Contrary to her actions, her voice is even, sounding more worn-out than anything else. "Let's vote on it."

"And you are?" Mi-Jin intones rudely, and you make a beeline toward Nam-Ra, standing to her left.

"She's number one," you undertone nonchalantly.

Nam-Ra looks pleased as she answers, "I'm also the classroom president." Somehow, that doesn't stimulate more questions or objections from Mi-Jin, and everyone shifts to face Nam-Ra, fight quickly forgotten. "Option one: we split up." Seeing no movements, Nam-Ra plows on. "Option two: we go together." Unanimously, everyone's for staying as a combined group. "Now that that's decided, we can move onto the next category."

Dae-Su raises his hand, meekly asking for permission to speak, which Nam-Ra readily grants. "Is it really smart to vote on life and death matters based on the majority?" He looks to Wu-Jin and Hyo-Ryung on either side of him. "What if, as a whole, we decide to do the wrong thing?"

Hyo-Ryung shrugs. "There's something called collective intelligence, though."

"It doesn't work like that because there are too many unintelligent people gathered here," Dae-Su assesses bluntly, eyeing Mi-Jin before she mouths a cuss at him that has him switching over to peep at Wu-Jin instead. "Most, if not all, of the intelligence is over there." Raising his pointer finger, he gestures between you and Nam-Ra.

"Then what? Should we vote on voting about voting?"

"Aish," Mi-Jim pipes up, skeptical. "How did you kids survive until now?"

"Well, you weren't here," you dare to say.

Ha-Ri just smirks and claps, approving seeing Mi-Jin downright snubbed. "This is why I like her," she teases her new friend.

"Chae-Wol's right, so can you just butt out?" Dae-Su grumbles without looking at Mi-Jin. "The only reason we're sitting here and voting is because you started the fight in the first place."

"Ha-Ri, give me an arrow so I can stab him." She holds her hand out, but Nam-Ra changes the topic.

"Now onto our defense. All those in favor of making the outside walls high?" Joon-Yeong, the creator, Dae-Su, Su-Hyeok, On-Jo, and Cheong-San, courtesy of On-Jo balloting for him with his own hand, are for it. "Alright, so five votes it is. Now, those in favor of folding the lids to form a box?" Mi-Jin, Ha-Ri, Hyo-Ryung, and Wu-Jin calmly cast their votes. Nam-Ra nods, counting. "Four for that preference, then."

Dae-Su backhands Wu-Jin in the arm. "What the hell! You said it's better to upend them, and didn't you endorse Joon-Yeong's idea earlier?"

"I changed my mind."

"High walls it is." Nam-Ra transfers away from leaning against the wall, but Mi-Jin sojourns