"I have a plan. But you're not going to like it."

The members turned to look at Yunho who had been writing furiously on a pad of paper left by the makeup crew.

Seonghwa looked to Hongjoong and they both nodded.

"Let's hear it," Hongjoong said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the table behind him.

San looked up from his seat in front of the door, lightly shaking Wooyoung awake as he lay on his shoulder.

"We need to split up."

"No," Seonghwa said firmly.

"I told you you weren't going to like it."

Hongjoong sighed, looking over at Seonghwa.

"Let's just hear him out."

"No! No one is splitting up. We operate best as a team. And if we split up, we won't know how the other group is doing. We'll just put ourselves into another panic."

"But if we travel in one big group, we're a lot more likely to make noise and it limits where we can go. And if we have to rush into a room at the last second, it takes less time for two people to enter than five," Yunho explained and Seonghwa pursed his lips in frustration.

He was right. It was for the best.

He just didn't like the idea that the other group might never come back.

"Fine. Go on," he muttered.

"Okay, group 1 is me, Wooyoung, and San. You two are group 2."

Seonghwa wanted to protest, not liking the idea of sending his younger members without a leader, but selfishly held his tongue. He didn't want to get separated from Hongjoong again.

Hongjoong seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Group 1 will try to find the others. We know the last place they went was the bathroom, so we'll start there. And those doors were pretty heavy so even if they're not there, we can take shelter there before looking anywhere else."

Hongjoong nodded, processing everything. Wooyoung still hadn't fully awakened and San had alternated from a slight nudge to a solid shove, knocking Wooyoung over and jolting him awake.

"Group 2, you're in charge of finding the control room. I was thinking of what the next best step would be, and I decided that we need to get to the control room. Not only are there phones and computers, but also cameras. We can try to see where there are any other survivors, keep an eye on zombies, and eventually assist police in their rescue operation."

Seonghwa decided to interject.

"Couldn't we all go to the control room? That way we can look for the others there and then we'll know where to find them and how to get there without running into too many zombies. It'll be much safer."

"I considered that. But we can't guarantee that we'll make it to the control room. And the cameras might be down. If we get stuck on the opposite end of the building, we'll never be able to come this way and look for them."

Hongjoong read between the lines.

"We probably won't see each other again for a while then."

Yunho looked down at his paper.

"Well...no. It would probably take us a while to find our way over there."

Seonghwa wrung his hands nervously.

"So what if you don't find them? What will you do?"

"We'll hide in the bathroom until it's safe to come back here."

"But won't the zombies get in here without someone guarding the door?"

They all turned at San's first note so far and the tension grew.

"I didn't think about that," Yunho admitted.

"We can't count on anything being safe at this point," Wooyoung sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"He's right. We can't guarantee safety anyways," Hongjoong agreed.

"So-are you all okay with this?" Seonghwa asked, mostly to try to get a negative reaction but everyone nodded. His hands fidgeted rapidly in his lap but Hongjoong walked over, placing a hand on top of them. Seonghwa looked into his eyes.

"As long as I'm with you, you'll be safe. Okay?" Hongjoong smiled.

"That's what I'm worried about."

Yunho started walking around the room to search for weapons and Hongjoong lightly stroked Seonghwa's cheek before following suit. Seonghwa walked over to Wooyoung and San, trying to convince them it was too dangerous.

"I don't know about this. I don't like the idea of you three being all on your own. I'm your hyung. Your parents, your siblings, your friends-they're all looking to me to protect you. I can't let you put yourselves in danger without being there to help."

San put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hyung, if anything happens, it's not your fault. You didn't make the zombies. Isn't that what you told me?" he smiled but the sweet expression just brought tears to Seonghwa's eyes.

"I guess..." he whispered, his voice catching.

"Hyung, we'll be fine. We have Yunho. He's literally the luckiest person on the planet. Plus, he's smart. And handy with a weapon," Wooyoung sighed, trying to calm Seonghwa's dramatics.

"And we have me!" San smiled brightly, flexing his biceps in an attempt to look intimidating but his smile just made him look goofy, causing Seonghwa to crack a smile.

"Yeah, and we have you. So we'll be fine. Honestly I'm more worried about you two. Hongjoong is scary when he's angry but I don't think he packs much of a punch. Plus...he has the worst luck," Wooyoung teased but Seonghwa didn't like it. It felt too real. Hongjoong could get hurt. He might not be able to defend himself. He might get into trouble.

As he started to spiral, San gave an annoyed elbow to Wooyoung who looked at him in confusion.

"It's okay. He's got you to protect him," San said with a bright grin, trying his best to lighten the mood again but Seonghwa could only muster half a smirk in response, standing and heading back to look for Hongjoong.

"Okay, this should be enough. We'll always find things along the way. And if we hold too much it'll slow us down," Yunho said, staring down at the table of potential weaponry.

Seonghwa walked over to stand by Hongjoong, silently slipping his arm through the crook of Hongjoong's elbow.

Hongjoong gave it a tight squeeze.

"San, Wooyoung! You two get first pick!" Yunho called and the two looked at each other before nodding.

Yunho held up each of the objects as he walked along the table, making sure they got a chance to see every option.

Wooyoung ended up picking the makeup cart, wanting whatever would be easiest to use to keep the zombies as far away from him as possible. San refused to pick until everyone else had gone so Hongjoong sighed and tossed him a wrench and a hairbrush. Yunho took the broom, figuring it would work best to push zombies away and still have a way to attack if necessary. Seonghwa decided to pick the bottle of bleach, hoping to avoid contact with as many zombies as possible, but also held onto his trusty mop from earlier. Hongjoong picked the screwdriver and proceeded to hand everyone a company umbrella to use as a shield as a last resort.

Having all decided on their weaponry, the group of five made their way towards the door, listening closely for any noise in the hallway.

It seemed to be silent.

They glanced at each other, each internally wishing one would speak up and talk the others out of it. But none of them did.

With a shaky sigh, they gathered in a group hug, holding onto each other tightly.

"Eight makes one team," Hongjoong whispered and they all tried their best not to let the tears in their eyes fall down their cheeks.

They finally released and turned towards the door in preparation.

Once they had double-checked the hallway, they nodded and the two groups split off, each with an equally dangerous mission ahead of them.