"What should we do?" Yerim kept glancing back and forth between the locked entrance and to the girl beside her.

Zombies don't talk...or do they?

"Hyejoo-ssi, zombies don't talk! What if they're really humans who need help? We can't just let them die outside there!" Yerim was panicking. She didn't know what to do, neither does the girl beside her.

When she didn't get any response from the other girl, Yerim forcefully snatched the door's keys from Hyejoo's grip. As she was about to insert the key to the lock, the once quiet girl stopped her.

"Yerim-ah! We'll die here too if we let those zombies get inside here!"

Yerim was stunned because this was the first time she heard Hyejoo speak when they heard those voices from the outside.

"Yeah, I know that zombies couldn't talk. But what if they're already humans who got bit and are already transf–"

"Please! If anyone is in there, open this damn door for God's sake!"

The loud voice from the outside shook Yerim out of her thoughts. "I don't think they're bitten. They sound very fine to me."

Yerim hurriedly composed herself and started to unlocked the roll up door and glass door so that she can let whoever who's outside get inside for safety.

"Stop th–" Yerim didn't listen to what Hyejoo was saying as she focused at the task on hand.

Hyejoo knew that she couldn't do or say anything to change Yerim's mind. Instead, she helped Yerim so that the "people" outside could come in. In spite of that, she held on tightly on the alcohol bottle she was holding just in case everything goes south.

As Yerim successfully unlocked the door, two silhouettes came into the view. They couldn't decipher whether those two figures standing are infected or not because there weren't any light present aside from the lamp post just around the corner.

Hyejoo squinted her eyes to focus her vision on the figures approaching. It was cut short when the tall figure pushed the smaller one to get her inside the convenience store.

"It's about damn time." The taller figure murmured.

Yerim blinked her eyes and saw that they were indeed humans and not the undead. "Oh, uhh, yeah, sorry. We had a bit of a situat–"

A loud snarl was heard right beside the store's entrance. The tall girl hurriedly grabbed onto what seems to be her weapon and let the zombie bite into it.

It was obvious that the girl was struggling, especially in the eyes of Hyejoo. None of them might seen this coming because they weren't moving an inch.

The girl was pushed inside the convenience store caused by the force of the zombie that was bitting her weapon.

"Yerim-ah, shut that door!" Hyejoo shouted.

"Wha– Why? There's still a zombie here and we can't let it stay he–"

"Just shut the damn door 'cause if you don't, there'll be more of them rushing inside here in no time!" Yerim glanced to the other side of the entrance and saw that there were indeed lots of zombies coming towards their way.

As Yerim was trying to close the roll up doors in a fast pace, the shorter girl who came in a while ago went to help her.

Hyejoo, on the other hand, focused her attention to help the struggling girl in front of her. She tightly clasped the alcohol bottle on her right arm and smashed it to the back of zombie's head.

The figure lost its grip from the wooden weapon as it fell on the floor. Hyejoo didn't think twice as she stabbed the remaining pieces of the glass bottle into the zombie's head to fully kill it.

Once she let go of the remaining pieces, Hyejoo started to breathe heavily, as well as the girl facing her. She directed her gaze back to Yerim and to the other person and was internally thankful that they managed to close the entrance just in time.

"Would you..." Hyejoo inhaled and exhaled to catch her breath "would you help me move this body?" She asked the tall girl. "Just right by the stockroom; it'll stink if we leave it here."

The tall girl nodded and helped Hyejoo by carrying its legs to the direction where the stockroom is located at the back of the convenience store.

"Umm Yerim, maybe you can give her some food or anything. We'll be back in a sec." Hyejoo instructed as she held the upper body of the undead that was previously laying on the floor.

Yerim nodded and held onto the girl's hand showing her her biggest smile. "Come on, let's get you something to eat!"

***

The four girls met at the middle of the convenience store after being able to leave the dead body at the stockroom.

Hyejoo faced the taller girl for the second time. "Do you want something to eat too? I can get you anythi–"

"No, no, it's alright. I'm not hungry." The girl smiled slightly. "Plus, we're gonna be here for a while so better save our resources, right?" She jokingly winked.

"Yeah! I think we'll be staying here for a long time too!" Yerim answered back in a hushed but cheerful tone.

"Oh," The tall girl cleared her throat and sat down on the floor next to the others. "we haven't really told you our names yet. I'm Sooyoung, and she's..."

"Kahei." The quiet girl sitting beside Yerim spoke up.

"Nice to meet you both, Sooyoung and Kahei!" Yerim shook both of the girls' hands. "Well, not in this situation, but you know what I mean. My name's Yerim. And that girl over there is Hyejoo."

Hyejoo and Sooyoung gave each other a nod. "Sooo," Sooyoung started off. "Have you guys been here for a while? It looks like you both did a great job with your rations." She said, looking at the foods and drinks that were divided equally.

"Uh yeah, Yerim and I planned all of this so we'll be able to survive out of this hellhole. We have only been here for like 18 hours but it feels like forever already." Hyejoo explained.

"Same thoughts. It felt like Kahei and I have been running for like a day or two."

"By the way, where have you guys been before ending up here? It looks like those weapons of yours were thought off really well, especially that wooden stick of yours." Hyejoo reached out to Sooyoung's weapon and began to examine it.

"We weren't originally together when shit started happening. I came from a dance academy and I happen to come across Kahei way back at the library."

"But why would you guys come here if you were already safe there at the library? People nowadays don't usually go there, right? So it must be safe." Yerim asked.

"Oh, that was because my dad said that someone was gonna pick us up, but when we went outside, we were too late." Kahei said.

"And that's when we ended up here. Right on this little convenience store of yours." Sooyoung playfully tapped on Yerim's name tag, making the other girl giggle.

"How 'bout you guys? How did you ended up here? Aside from Yerim of course, I now that she works here." Kahei questioned.

"Okay." Yerim clasped her hands together. "It was a bright and sunny day, it was just like one of those ordinary days at work. Until one time, this girl with triangle-shaped lips and emo vibes entered the store. I think she was kinda gloomy so I greeted her so cheerfully when she first got here." Yerim whispered the last part to Kahei.

"When she was already paying for the items that she bought, a strange looking high schooler entered. It was like I was watching a movie when Hyejoo here looked at her with dead eyes. The next thing I knew, the girl attacked her and then in a split motion, the high schooler was dead. Hyejoo managed to stab her with an alcohol bottle just like what she did a while ago. Long story short, people went outside because they think that Hyejoo went loco, we closed the store for protection, and then you guys came along."

"Wait, people think you were going crazy?" Sooyoung asked looking at Hyejoo. The said girl nooded. "Wah, I guess they were already one of those dead-walking people that we encountered on our way here then. Who's crazy now?"

Yerim started laughing a bit, while Kahei giggled. "It's smart that you guys thought of turning of the lights. These refrigerators do their thing as a source of light at times like this." Kahei said.

"Yeah, I just hope that the electricity won't die out soon. It'll be better to survive a world like this when you are inside of a convenience store that is air-conditioned." Hyejoo replied.

"Anyways, I'm glad that we met you guys! Now, we can survive this apocalypse together. Come here and let's have a group hug." Yerim stretched her arms wide to fit all the girls.

Survive. That's what I also hope for.

══════════════════

A/N:
Thank you so much for those who left their warm messages at the previous chapter. You don't have anything to worry about since I will continue writing this book!

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that 2023 would be a better year for all of us. May this year be filled with blessings and joys.

2023, please take good care of LOONA~ 🙏