POV: Jisoo
The morning light had barely broken through the clouds, casting a thin, pale glow on the shattered dorm windows.
The world outside remained as eerie and silent as the night before, but inside, the stillness felt more like a pressure, tightening around every chest in the room. I had woken early, as I always did now, and walked the dorm's perimeter, my footsteps echoing through the hollow silence.
The air was heavy—thick with the scent of old wood, sweat, and that ever-present metallic tang. It was quiet. Too quiet.
I wasn't surprised when I found the first sign of trouble.
A gap in the barricade by the kitchen—just large enough for someone to slip through. My heart tightened.
There was no mistaking it. Someone had left during the night. I didn't need to check the dorm to know it was true.
"Who did this?" Jun-ho's voice sliced through the tense silence as I re-entered the common room, eyes already scanning the faces of those gathered. The group was lethargic this morning, still worn from the battle the night before, but there was a palpable unease that buzzed between us all.
"Not sure. But we've got a bigger problem." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. Jun-ho raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing in calculation. "You think someone left?"
I nodded, stepping toward the window and peering out at the treeline, my fingers curling around the edge of the frame.
"They're gone. And I think...I think they might've gone looking for a way off the island."
The words hung heavy in the air, and I could feel the tension mount, the silent accusations darting between us.
We all knew how it felt—desperation gnawing at the edges of our sanity. But we couldn't allow ourselves to break. A loud thud from the kitchen snapped me out of my thoughts, followed by voices rising in tension.
I turned, instinctively moving toward the source of the noise, but Jun-ho was faster. As I reached the doorway, he was already there, his hand on the frame, listening.
"It's happening." He muttered under his breath, but his voice was sharp, calculated. The sounds of raised voices echoed in the hall. "Where's the food? Where's the water?! We can't just sit here and wait to die!" Minjae's voice rang out, jagged and full of frustration.
"Aren't you tired of this?!" He yelled, pushing against the walls of the kitchen, his face contorted with anger.
"Calm down, Minjae. We need to think this through." Ara's voice was calm, but her words were laced with an edge of worry. But Minjae wasn't listening. He wasn't the only one.
As I entered, I could see the panic flickering behind their eyes—whispers of escape, of finding a way out.
"Look. Leaving the dorm isn't the answer. We don't know what's out there. And we're not risking anyone's life over a few bad nights." Jun-ho said, stepping into the room, his voice low and steady.
Minjae shook his head violently. "We can't stay here! The infected are getting smarter! We're just waiting to die!" His voice cracked, raw and vulnerable.
Jun-ho's gaze hardened, his mouth set into a firm line.
"That's not what I'm saying. But panicking and running without a plan will get us all killed. We're staying, and we're staying until we can move safely."
"I don't trust him." Minjae turned away, his back tense with frustration, but I saw something else in his eyes—a seed of doubt.
He was starting to crack, and he was looking for someone to blame. And it wasn't just Jun-ho. It was the whole situation, the helplessness, the fear.
I could feel my own doubts creeping in, but I shoved them down. I wasn't going to let this fall apart.
I moved toward the table, where the younger students were huddled together, their faces pale and drawn. No one had touched the breakfast spread, but their eyes darted nervously from one person to the next, as if waiting for someone to make the next move.
I reached for the jug of water, pouring a few shaky glasses.
My hands weren't steady. They hadn't been steady since last night. But I had to keep it together for them. For all of us.
Suddenly, a shout cut through the air, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I saw something! Infected! There are a lot of them!" One of the students shouted from the window. I turned sharply, my mind already racing through possibilities. "Where?"
The group scrambled toward the window. The infected were out there—farther off than before, but they were closing in. And we were running out of time.
"We can't stay here anymore. What now?" I said, my voice firm, though my heart was pounding in my chest. I turned to Jun-ho, my eyes meeting his. His gaze flickered with an unreadable emotion—somewhere between calm calculation and…weariness. He was carrying the weight of their survival, but I knew he wasn't ready to break.
—
By the time nightfall arrived, things were more than clear. The infected weren't just closing in. They were surrounding us, pushing in from every angle. We could feel the walls closing in on us as surely as the darkness.
The plan we had been huddling over—move when we could—no longer felt viable. We had to leave. We had to move.
But there were still voices rising in protest, and we could feel the pressure mounting. "The dorm isn't safe. We need to move, and we need to do it now." Jun-ho said quietly, stepping into the room, his eyes scanning the group.
Minjae clenched his fists, the tension in his jaw tightening. "This was your plan, wasn't it?" His words were laced with bitterness.
I saw the way Jun-ho's jaw clenched at the accusation, but he didn't back down. "I'm trying to keep you all alive, Minjae. But I need you to trust me, or we're all dead." He said, voice low but controlled.
I could see the shift in the others. The tension was palpable, but there was something in Jun-ho's voice that commanded attention.
And slowly, though they resisted, they started to fall in line.
I stepped up to Jun-ho as the group began to organize itself, my heart thumping in my chest.
The time for diplomacy had passed. The group was fractured, but we needed to move. I wanted to ask him what came next, but I didn't need to. His mind was already working, already planning.
And then, she moved to his side. Ara, her face set with quiet resolve, stood beside him. She didn't speak a word, but her decision was clear. She would follow Jun-ho.
Her eyes met mine for a moment, and the unspoken truth was there between us. She wasn't just staying with him out of duty. She believed in him. She believed in his ability to lead.
And though a part of me wanted to protest, to fight for her attention, I understood. Jun-ho was becoming more than a leader. He was becoming the anchor for all of us. I watched as Ara's hand brushed briefly against Jun-ho's arm. It was a subtle gesture, a quiet promise. But in that moment, I knew things were changing.
The fractures in the group had deepened. But one thing was clear—where Jun-ho went, Ara would follow. And where Ara went, the rest of us would have to follow, too. The night outside was growing darker. The screams in the distance were louder.
But for now, we held our ground.