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Chapter 18:

A half-hour later, we had all gathered back inside of the security office. People were finding seats around the room, 3 women took seats on the bed that was in the corner, while everyone else sat in any available space in the room. I'm seated in a chair at the desk while Eun-hyuk is beside me, leaning against the desk.

Once everyone was in listening distance, the firefighter lady, Seo Yi-Kyung, started to speak. "We should all live together in one place until help arrives. It'll be much safer that way." She tells us.

"Where are we all gonna go?" Asks a man in a blue striped shirt. He was standing just outside of the office, standing in front of the office's sliding windows.

I noticed Eun-hyuk look up suddenly as he went to speak. "The daycare center." He says, turning to look at the man through the open window.

I was kind of shocked to hear that the building had a daycare center, considering how rundown the rest of the building seemed to be.

"It's relatively safe because it's far from the entrance. It'll also be better to sleep in there than out here." Eun-hyuk continues to say. Just as he finished speaking, however, another voice can be heard.

"I won't allow it. No." Says a woman. The woman whose daughter was missing.

"Who are you to say no?" An older guy with shoulder-length hair questions her.

The lady with the dog decides to join in now. "She's the director of the daycare." 

"You scumbags. Pieces of shit! You ignored me when I begged. You're shameless!" The mother curses.

"Your daughter probably needs someone's help, too, you know?" Yi-Kyung says. At this, the mother sighs in distress. She stumbles slightly and Yi-Kyung reaches out to steady her.

"That's why I'm saying I'll go. Let me help. I might lose my daughter but you can do whatever you want after I leave."

"What about you? Are you okay with dying?" Eun-hyuk asks her. "Do you have a plan? There's no internet or phone service. How can you be sure where she is? First, you have to stay alive. Otherwise, you won't be able to find your daughter." He continued. While his questions seemed somewhat harsh, seeing as the woman was so worried about her daughter, I knew Eun-hyuk was right. If she were to die, then she wouldn't be able to find her daughter anyways.

It was silent for a moment, no one daring to say a word after what had just been saying. I watched the mother process Eun-hyuk's words until a certain gleam appeared in her eyes. She looked as if she wanted to smack Eun-hyuk. So when I noticed her start to raise her hand, I quickly jumped from my spot beside him and stood in front of him just in time for the mother's hand to then come in contact with my face.

It didn't quite occur to me what had just happened as it had all happened in the span of a few seconds. I stumble slightly due to the force of her smack. The anger she had felt towards Eun-hyuk had just been taken out on me. Around the room, I could hear a few gasps. Eun-hyuk grabs hold of my shoulders, pulling me away from the mother as he turns me to face him.

He tries to lift my face to get a look at my cheek but I pull away. "I'm fine," I say, before turning to face the mother again. I try to sit back in my seat but Eun-hyuk grabs my hand, pulling me to his side once more. He let go of me only when he knew I would stay put.

Looking back to the mother again, I see the young soldier pull out a water bottle. "Please, calm down and help us..." He asks as he politely tries to give the mother the water. " I promise I will help you later, too." He continues. 

However, the mother instead knocks the bottle from his hands, spilling the after to the floor as she tells. "Do whatever you want." She says before angrily walking out of the office.

After deciding to go to the daycare center, the building's residents all decided to make their way from the office, soon leaving just Eun-hyuk and myself remaining.  When I notice that it is just us two, I go to leave as well, only, Eun-hyuk grabs my arm just before I can walk through the door. 

I don't say anything as he reaches for my face, tilting it upwards so that he can see my red cheek. He seems to sigh slightly before letting go of my face. We both stare at one another for a moment before I look away in embarrassment. 

"The gun bullets. We should hide those while everyone's getting settled into the daycare." Eun-hyuk tells me.

Eun-hyuk follows me as I head over to my box of things that were left in the hallway. I push aside a few items before revealing several small boxes full of gun bullets. Eun-hyuk takes one, opening it up to see the bullets inside. "Come on. I know where we can stash these,"  Eun-hyuk says as he takes out all of the boxes.

With our arms full of gun boxes, Eun-hyuk and I sneak through the lobby, careful not to run into any suspicious residents. 

We stop in front of the lobby wall, Eun-hyuk uses his free hand to move aside a painting. He then begins to remove a few lost bricks. I help him as he starts to put each box of bullets into the hole until there is just one box remaining.

"Keep that one. We should keep this one with the gun, just to be safe." He says as he begins to cover up the hole once more.

As we make out way back to the office, I finally speak up. "How did you know about that spot in the wall?" I ask.

"The security guard. I often saw him hiding things there. He never knew that I always saw him. Luckily for us, no one else was ever around to see it." By now, we were standing 9inside the office.

"So where's the gun?" I ask, slightly whispering, in case one of the residents suddenly appeared.

"In here" Eun-hyuk then slides out the bed in the corner before pulling up one of the wooden floorboards. I look into the hole, seeing my gun inside. I hand him the box of bullets and watched as he places them beside the gun. Closing the hole and placing the bed back into the corner, Eun-hyuk wipes dust from his hands before looking at me.

"If you're wondering about that spot, I made it. I broke the floorboards myself to be able to hide the gun there." Eun-hyuk says as he looks over to the wall of security cameras that sat across the room.

I just nod my head at this. Eun-hyuk seemed to be very smart. Everything I've seen him say or do up until this point showed that he had the skills to lead the residents of this building. I look up, seeing Eun-hyuk switching through a few screens when I once again feel the familiar wet feeling in my nose.

I sigh in annoyance as I hold my hand to my nose. "I'll be back," I say, before rushing out of the security office.

Eun-hyuk's POV:

 I hear Ji-eun speaking followed by the sound of her footsteps retreating from the office. However, I don't process what she had just said. Only focusing on the video screen in front of me. In what appeared to be the building's basement, a giant spider-like creature walks past the camera. I go to zoom in but the screen suddenly turns off, along with the rest of the building's power.