"YUNHO!" Wooyoung screamed, moving to run after him but San held him back.

"Hyung. What do we do?" San asked but Seonghwa was at a loss for words.

His mind was all over.

Zombies.

Blood.

And sitting right at the top of everything, was Hongjoong.

He had left to go find the others.

And he hadn't come back.

He needed him.

They needed a leader.

And he needed to know he was okay.

"You two. Stay right here."

Seonghwa started towards the door but Wooyoung grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back.

"Where are you going!? You can't just leave us here!!"

"I need to find Hongjoong. I'll be right back."

"Hyung! You can't go! We need you!" Wooyoung cried.

"You said we needed a plan!" San shouted.

"I know. I know. But I can't-I can't-I need to know. I'll be right back."

Seonghwa yanked his arm free from Wooyoung's tight hold, ripping his shirt sleeve, and ran out into the hallway.

He quickly looked left and right and thankfully didn't see anything coming. He knew the bathrooms were to his left so he started running that way, doing everything he could to take his brain away from the worst possible scenario.

As he neared the end of the hallway, he suddenly heard someone cry out and immediately recognized the voice.

It was Hongjoong.

He grabbed the wall and flung himself around the turn, reaching for a mop that had been sitting out. But as much as he'd felt the adrenaline taking over, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment when he saw the mob of bloodied, crazed faces as they all turned towards him.

They were people.

At some point.

And now, they were monsters.

"Seonghwa what the fuck are you doing!?" Hongjoong shouted and Seonghwa quickly snapped out of it.

He slid the mop in front of him and charged, pushing back against the hundreds of faces coming towards him. Just as he turned to glance at Hongjoong, he noticed Hongjoong was bending over someone on the ground.

Yunho.

"YUNHO! TALK TO ME!" he screamed, pushing back against the zombies as well as he could.

"I'm okay-I got tackled by a bunch of them but Hongjoong fought them off."

Seonghwa sighed, feeling tears forming in his eyes.

"Are you okay to run?" Hongjoong asked pulling him up to his feet.

"Yeah-let's go," he nodded, regaining his footing.

"On the count of three. I'm going to dump this water to slow them down a little bit. Okay? One, two, three!" Seonghwa tipped the water bucket and the three took off towards the dressing room.

"Come on! Come on! We're almost there!" Hongjoong shouted but as they reached the door, another group of zombies came flying around the corner.

"Get in!" San yelled as he opened the door for them and the three tumbled into the room just as San slammed it shut and locked it, pulling down the shade.

He kept his back pressed against it as the zombies pushed, trying to force their way in.

"Somebody help him!" Wooyoung yelled as he sat frozen in the corner in panic.

Yunho got up as quickly as possible, pushing his back against the door as well.

"Jesus, Seonghwa. You scared the shit out of me."

Seonghwa turned to Hongjoong who was hunched over on the ground, catching his breath.

"You both would've been dead if I hadn't found you. I had to help."

"I know. Thank you. I'm sorry for making you worry like that. I had no idea there would be fucking zombies."

"I'm just glad we're all okay."

"I'm not okay! You fucking left us here alone!" Wooyoung shouted, moving to stand.

"I'm sorry, Woo-"

"You had no idea if Hongjoong was even alive and yet you just left San and I here by ourselves!"

"Hey, it's okay. We made it back. We won't leave you again," Hongjoong said gently, walking over to him. Wooyoung tried to remain angry but he quickly melted to tears, latching onto Hongjoong.

"I'm sorry...we were just really fucking scared."

"I know."

Seonghwa walked over to the door to help, telling Yunho to go sit down. It took many tries to convince him but finally he listened, sitting at one of the mirrors along the wall.

He looked down at his hands solemnly, his expression darker than any Seonghwa had ever seen on Yunho's face.

"I'm really worried about the others," San whispered and Seonghwa turned to him, stroking his hair with his fingertips.

"Me too. As soon as we know a little more about what's going on here we'll go look for them. Okay?"

"And all of the fans. And staff. Everyone here is at risk and it's all our fault."

Seonghwa turned San's chin to face him.

"Sannie, none of this is our fault. Why would you say that?"

"Because they're all here for us. Atiny is here for us. The staff members are here for us. None of them would be at risk if we'd never had a concert. If we'd never even come here."

A tear rolled down San's cheek as he started to
cry. His words stabbed Seonghwa like a knife.

He was right. The fans. The workers. Everyone who was here was only here because of them.

Their deaths were on their hands.

"We don't deserve to be safe when all of the people who paid to see us are getting torn apart in their seats," San whispered and Seonghwa tried not to picture the gruesome images they'd witnessed on the screen before it had been disconnected.

But as much as he agreed with San, it wasn't his responsibility to take. It was something his Hyung would take for him.

"Sannie, it's not your fault. We never could have known this would happen."

"But it did."

"I know. But we didn't know."

"All they wanted was to see us. Even if it was only from the back row. They just wanted to support us. And now they're dead. All because of us."

"San, it's not your fault. It's not any of our faults. You can't take the blame for something like this. Whoever caused the outbreak is the one that's responsible, okay?"

San turned to him, his eyes damp and his nose runny.

"You think someone did this on purpose?"

"I don't know. But someone did it. It didn't just happen. And they're the ones with blood on their hands. Not you. Not me. Not any of us. You can't shoulder this pain."

San went silent, not wanting to accept it but not wanting to argue anymore. They both let themselves relax a bit as the zombies began to walk away, leaving the door alone.

"Hey, why don't we gather some chairs and tables and push them against the door? That way no one has to hold it," Hongjoong said, standing up.

"But then...how are we going to get out?" Yunho muttered and everyone turned.

Hongjoong paused.

"Well...we'll have to move it out of the way."

"It'll take too long. We need to find the others."

"Yunho, we will. But we don't know what's happening out there. We need to think before we just charge into a dangerous situation-"

"Seonghwa just ran after you and look where you are now! What if they need us!? What if they're waiting for us!? We can't just do nothing!" Yunho yelled, slamming his fist against the mirror, causing it to fracture.

"Yunho!" Seonghwa cried, running to dress his wound as the shards of glass fell around him.

But just as he reached him, San stood with a start, pushing forcefully against the door.

"Someone! Help! They're back!" he cried and Hongjoong quickly ran over, pushing his shoulder into it.

Seonghwa had frozen for a moment but seeing that the situation was covered, turned back to Yunho's bloody hand and started wrapping it with the sleeve of his shirt that Wooyoung had ripped.

After a few minutes, the zombies seemed to back off and Seonghwa walked back to sit by the two at the door.

"Do you think they heard the mirror breaking and ran towards the sound?" Seonghwa asked and Hongjoong nodded.

"They must have sensitive hearing. If we're lucky, maybe that's all they have."

"Other than zombie-making juices in their mouths," Seonghwa sighed sarcastically, causing Hongjoong to crack a smile.

"Zombie-making juices?"

"Aish-I don't know what to call them," Seonghwa scowled, giving Hongjoong a playful punch in the arm. But he smiled too, realizing how stupid his choice of words was.

"I need to go look for them."

They looked up at Yunho who was staring down at his bandaged fist, shaking.

"I know. We're all just as worried as you are, okay? It's just not worth it to rush into anything right now. I'm sure they're okay. They're smart kids. I know they're safe," Hongjoong said with a soft smile.

"And what if they're not?"

"They are."

Yunho didn't seem to accept it but he stopped talking, and turned his chair to face the other side of the dressing room as he started to cry, quietly.

San stood and walked over to him, lightly comforting him with a firm hug from behind.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong scooted in front of the door together, sitting against it. Hongjoong reached for Seonghwa's hand, pulling it into his lap and giving it a tight squeeze.

"I was so scared when I saw you. I thought I was going to lose you."

Seonghwa brought his other hand over, enclosing Hongjoong's and holding it firm.

"I was, too. When I heard you call out-panic took over me. I don't even really remember what happened."

"You were pretty fucking fast," Hongjoong laughed and Seonghwa rolled his eyes at the break in their serious conversation.

But they both grew serious again as they thought of their other members. They had no idea where they were or if they were safe.

For all they knew the other three could already be dead.

No. They couldn't think like that.

They wouldn't believe it until they knew for sure.

"I'm so fucking scared," Hongjoong whispered, his eyes starting to water. "I don't want to die."

Seonghwa felt a tear drip down his cheek and he pulled Hongjoong tightly to his side, holding him.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"We can't protect them. What if...how will we tell their families?"

Seonghwa shook his head.

"Don't go there. We can't think about that. We need to stay strong. For them. Okay?"

"I don't know if I can."

"You can. Because you have me."

Seonghwa set his head on Hongjoong's, squeezing his eyes shut.

"And you've got me," Hongjoong whispered shakily, making Seonghwa smile.

"We can do this. We have to."

"For them."

"And for us."