Wrong Universe | All of us are dead

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷Chapter 18

Fear..

Byeol wasn't exactly the type of person who get scared easily. She's been through horrifying scenes from witnessing her parents got killed in front of her brutally to the everyday bullying she encountered until she learns to stand up for her own.

But as the memory of when she got bitten way before all of this happens, she feels an unexplainable fear coursing through her body and to her heart, spreading like a virus and leaving a trail of searing pain on its wake.

Byeol could feel it, how her bones starts cracking as hot blinding pain surges through her system. Her heart contracts like someone's clenching it tightly with their fingers, making her unable to breath properly as she gasp for air, clutching her chest as she fell on the floor and cower on the corner. She accidentally knock off some papers from the shelves but she care less as she felt the blood dribble down from her nose and down her chin. From her reflection on the metal foot of the swivel chair, she could make out her eyes turning red so as her vision.

It was hot---she feels a searing hotness spreads all over her limbs as her neck starts making cracking noise. She closes her eyes tightly, pulling her knees to her chest as she bury her head on her knees. Everything's muffled like her heads being forced down the water and her lungs burning. She can't breathe.

I'm hungry....

With trembling hand, she peeled away her bag from her back as she zipped it open, albeit with diffuculty but she managed. She grab the food she could get her hands into, tearing the wrapper and forcing herself to take a bite of the bread. It was hard to swallow, like her own body's rejecting it although her mind screams that she's starving. She gags.

Her throat feels like a thousand sandpapers, scratchy and painful as she literally gasp for air. Her hand reaches for the bottle of water next, twisting the lid open as she down the content in record breaking time, some water even dribbles on the corner of her lips and soaking her uniform as she gulps the content down in hope of quenching the uncontrollable thirst she suddenly felt. But it wasn't enough.

I'm hungry... hungry... Eat... need to eat...

Byeol shakes her head harshly, pulling her hair as she scoots closer to the corner as she covers her ears tightly, suppressing the twitch of her body while tears continuously falls down from her eyes and down her cheeks like a waterfall.

"Byeol.. Cheong-san.. where do you think they are right now?"

Through the hazy feeling, her ears picked up a conversation, the voices are very familiar to her as she closes her eyes tightly and huddle her knees closer to her.

Fresh Flesh.. eat them...

"No," she sobs, biting down her own lips as her teeth itches to sink itself on some flesh. Blood dribbles from her lips down her cheeks, mixing with blood on her nose as it both soak on the collar of her uniform.

"Fuck...I'm not going to be a zombie... I can't.." she tries talking to herself as her grip on her hair tightens to the point that her scalp is screaming in pain, "Cheong-san.. On-jo.. Gyeong-su.. Nam-ra.. Dae-su.. Su-hyeok..Wujin... Joon-yeong.." the images of her friends flashes on her mind as the searing heat subsides a little, "I need to save them, I need to get them out of here."

She clutches her chest as the pain on her heart becomes unbearable. The image of Hyun and Bom flashes next, "Mom, Dad.. I want to see you again."

But I'm hungry... so hungry..

"No, I've went weeks.. months without turning... I-I can't..." the red on her eyes finally spreads, covering her dark irides as she smell the sweet scent of humans...

But her eyes focuses on the little rabits with the same red eyes as her and without much of a thought and succumbing to her instinct but refusing to attack any of her friends, she grab the lab hamster and sink her teeth on its little body, the blood splattering everywhere as it squeak but she chew it, the bones cracking as she got lost on her own instinct.

Her life when she woke up in this universe flashes right in front of her eyes like a movie but without a sound. The happy memories she spend with the quartet, her first day that although it was the start of their end, she still felt warm and happy. Then comes Hyun and Bom's beaming face as they bid her goodbye before she climb off the car.

"Of course, sweety. If you're still scared that a zombie apocalypse might happen, you should know that we're always coming to get you no matter what happens,"

"Whatever happens, don't fear protecting yourself, okay my star? Dad and Mom will come and get you."

"I'll make my mom cook for you when we get out of here. She'll be glad to cook for you, she might even like you more than her own son."

"Maybe I can invite Mom and Dad too. Mom do really enjoy the really spicy one and she couldn't wait for the store to finally open."

"Let's do that."

"I'll come back safe and sound after I pull the two guys out of trouble."

A tear fell on her blood red eyes as the now dead hamster fell from her grasp. She begins to vomit the bloody flesh, forcing herself to expel the revolting meat as she literally fell on the floor by fours.

She sit up right, leaning her head on the wall as the red on her eyes disappears and her dark irides made its appearance once again but the tears on her eyes didn't stop falling.

"I'm not afraid anymore," Byeol grab her bag to take out the wet wipes she had brought with her, taking the mirror too as she looks at her reflection, "I managed to keep it obscure for weeks that even I didn't know and I'll manage to do it again."

Blood stains the gap between her nostrils and her upper lips so as her chin but it stopped bleeding by now. Sweat making her now dishiveled hair to stick on her face and her eyes red rimmed, cheeks stains with tears.

She wipes the blood using the wet wipes first, cleaning her whole face free with blood, sweat, and tears as she subtly pushes the stray hairs covering her face behind her ears.

Her eyes falls on the opened backpack, some food and the water bottles sprawled around the backpack because of the hasty actions she did earlier.

'I guess this kind of food is not appealing to me anymore. They will be needing it more than me.' - she thought, placing the scattered food back on the safety of the bag as she zip it close.

She stands up next, disposing the used wet wipes to the trash as she throw the mangled body of the hamster to trash too. She slip her backpack on before she made her way out of the stock room, a new mission on her mind.

'There's no room for fear. I need to help them to go out of this hellhole alive and I'm going to meet Mom and Dad too. They'll come and save me. They promised.' was her thought as she walks down the hallway to the cafeteria to get more food and water for the little group of survivor.

She has to find Cheong-san too and reunites him with the others.

***

I don't know but if some of you is still confuse, according to my own understanding of the Jonas Virus, it gets triggered by fear which the virus turns into aggression and strength but some people with stronger white blood cells--ehem hambies, managed to collab with the virus instead. Every person has different mutations because of how the virus reacts varies on different person and that's why Byeol haven't noticed it until she felt fear which triggers the turning process.

I'm sticking on my own understanding about the virus for the whole story since information is still scarce.