The city was a ghost town, a canvas of inky blackness punctuated by the occasional, flickering glow of a dying streetlight. Inside the jeep, the silence was a living thing, thick and suffocating, broken only by the ragged rhythm of In-Ha’s breathing. She squeezed Eunhye’s hand with a strength that belied her exhaustion, each contraction a fresh wave of fire. Up front, Jaeyeon’s knuckles were bone-white on the steering wheel, his gaze locked on the road as if he could physically wrestle a safe passage.

It was Minji’s voice, thin and frayed at the edges, that finally shattered the quiet. "Where are we even going?"

Jaeyeon’s answer was a low, gruff thump of sound. "A hospital." His boot pressed the accelerator deeper into the well, the engine growling in protest. "Any hospital we can find. Just one proper hospital." He grit his teeth recalling the buildings they had crossed so far. Broken, destroyed, or crawling with zombies.

"Stop!"

The word was a gunshot in the confined space. Jaeyeon jerked, his foot instinctively stomping on the brake. The jeep lurched to a halt, throwing them all forward against their seatbelts.

"What?" Jaeyeon snapped, his voice strained as he whipped his head around, eyes searching the back seat. "What is it? Is it In-Ha ma'am? If not, can it wait?"

Hailey shook her head, her face pale in the dim dashboard light. "No, Jaeyeon Oppa. It can't wait." Her eyes, wide and shimmering, darted from his frustrated face to the others, all now staring at her.

Yohan leaned forward, his brow knitted with concern. "Hailey Noona? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

She drew a shaky breath, the air catching in her throat. "Listen to me. All of you, please. In twenty minutes, maybe thirty, we'll see a hospital. Right across this street. Seemingly the only normal one..After... after the baby comes..." She glanced at In-Ha, her expression pained. "They're going to ask us to stay. We have to say no."

The silence that followed was heavier than before, loaded with confusion. Sae Joon Hyun was the first to break it, a skeptical frown on his face. "What are you even saying? And even if you are planning ahead with possibilities...say no? Why would we do that? She'll need to rest. The baby will need to be checked—"

"Oppa, please," Hailey begged. A tear escaped, tracing a clean path through the grime on her cheek. "Just trust me. We can't stay. None of us should even set foot in that building. Not me, not Yohan, not Eunhye Noona, not you, Jaeyeon Oppa, and not Yuri Seonsangnim."

Sae Joon Hyun ran a hand over the back of his neck, his expression torn. He looked from Hailey’s desperate face to In-Ha’s pained one, the weight of the decision clear in his eyes. He let out a long, slow breath. "Okay... okay. Alright. I'll do it. I'll say no."

The engine roared back to life as Jaeyeon put the jeep in drive, the sound unnaturally loud. They rolled forward, the tension now a tangled knot of fear and doubt. The hospital's lights eventually glowed in the distance, a beacon that felt more like a trap. But just as the jeep was to be parked, a sharp, electronic ringing cut through Hailey’s skull.

Beep... beep... Beep...

She winced, clapping her hands over her ears as the world around her stuttered and reset.

"Hailey Noona?" Yohan’s voice was sharp, laced with a new kind of panic. "Hey, what's happening? Talk to me!"

She blinked, the timeloop’s disorientation washing over her. She took a sharp, steadying breath, the urgency now a frantic drumbeat in her chest. She had to make them understand.

"Listen!" she repeated, her voice stronger, more desperate. "The hospital is right ahead. After the delivery, they'll ask us to stay."

"Say no. When they ask, you say no and we leave. Immediately. And none of us can go in. Not me, Yohan, Eunhye Noona, Jaeyeon Oppa, or Yuri Seonsangnim." Her hands were trembling violently in her lap.

"And... and there's a zombie among the survivors in there," she blurted out, the words hanging in the air, absurd and terrifying.

Yon, whose patience had been a thin wire for miles, finally snapped. He reached over the seat and grabbed her forearm, his grip like iron. "That's enough! What kind of nonsense are you spouting now? A zombie? How would you know that the hospital has survivors and a zombie among them? How do you even know anything? Have you completely lost it?"

Hailey didn't flinch. She met his furious gaze with a fierce, terrifying intensity. "His name is Minwoo. His grandmother lives in Andong. Thick eyebrows, small eyes. Yon, he's a walking infection. He's in there, right now. We need to get him out. We have to save the people in there."

Yohan was on it in a second, pulling Yon's hand away. "Hyeong, stop it! We don't have to get it! Can't we just trust her? What's the worst that happens if we listen? Huh? We are already living in a world gone mad."

Yon stared at Yohan, then back at Hailey's deadly serious, petrified face. The fight drained out of him, replaced by a weary resignation. He exhaled, a long, heavy sigh. "Fine. Alright. We do it her way."

Some time later, they were back in the jeep, the doors slamming shut on the seemingly chilling morning air. The hospital stood behind them, its welcoming lights now seeming sinister. A stunned, hollow silence filled the vehicle.

Sae Joon Hyun finally muttered, almost to himself, "She was right. There really was one in there. And there were so many survivors too." Every single head turned to look at Hailey, who sat curled into herself.

She could only offer a weak, helpless shrug. "I don't know," she whispered, the words barely there. "I just... knew."

Yohan’s hand found hers, his fingers lacing through hers, warm and solid. She looked up, her eyes searching his, terrified of seeing the doubt she felt in herself.

"Hailey Noona," he started, his voice incredibly soft. "What was that? How did you know? All of it... his name, his grandmother..."

"Yohan..." Her voice broke. The dam holding back her terror finally burst. "I saw it. I lived it. You..." A sob ripped from her throat. "You kept dying. Every time that thing turned, you died. Over and over. Sometimes you fell... sometimes... sometimes you were just... torn apart."

Yohan didn't pull away. His free hand came up, smoothing her hair back from her damp forehead. His touch was an anchor in her raging storm. She clung to the fabric of his shirt—the same stupid school uniform they were both stuck in.

"You, me, Eunhye Noona, Jaeyeon Oppa, Yuri Seonsangnim... we were supposed to be in those blue staff uniforms from the hospital," she cried, the memory vivid and acid-sharp as she glanced at the others. "But we're not. I changed that. I did. But I couldn't... I couldn't get you out of these clothes. I'm so sorry."

"Noona... Hailey, shhh, it's okay," Yohan murmured, his other arm wrapping around her, pulling her tight against the tremors wracking her body. "Just breathe."

"I tried so hard to save you. I tried everything. And even when it worked, I’d just... wake up back here. I had to watch it all again." The guilt was a physical weight, crushing her chest.

"That's how I knew... Yohan, I lived that moment so many times I can smell the antiseptic in that hallway."

"It's over," he whispered into her hair. "You're here. You're safe. You fixed it."

"Yeah... you're safe too. Minwoo-ssi was infected... I think my panic, my... guilt... it kept pulling me back. And..."

"And we stopped him," Yon's voice cut through from the seat opposite theirs, low and utterly final.

Past: A Day Ago.
The Hospital.

Against every screaming instinct Hailey’s warnings had given him, they had stayed. The doctor was insistent, In-Ha was exhausted, and it seemed easier to give in. But Yon couldn't shake it. Her words were an earworm, a relentless, paranoid chant in the back of his mind.

The next morning, clean and uncomfortable in the blue staff uniform, he moved through the crowd with a singular purpose. He found him. Dark hair. Thick brows. Just like she’d said. Yon walked right up, his expression grim.

"You. You're Minwoo-ssi, right?" Yon’s voice left no room for argument.

The man—Minwoo—flinched, eyes widening like a startled animal. "Y-yes? How do you know? Have we met before?"

Yon’s hand shot out, grabbing a fistful of the cheap blue fabric at his collar. "Are you infected?"

A ripple of shock went through the survivors nearby. Minwoo stammered, "N-no! Let go of me! I'm not!"

"The denial. That's what she said comes first," Yon stated, his voice cold and loud enough to draw a crowd. He looked down at Minwoo's hands. "Then the shaking." He forced Minwoo's chin up. "The eyes. All red." Minwoo’s protests became incoherent sputters as Sae Joon Hyun stepped forward, his face a mask of grim understanding.

"Sheesh. It's all over you, man," Sae Joon Hyun said, his voice hard.

The crowd began to back away, the reality of the threat among them dawning. Yon didn't hesitate. He shoved Minwoo back, creating a fatal gap. In one fluid, brutal motion, he raised the gun Sae Joon Hyun had given him for 'just in case,' and bashed in his head. The sound was absolute.

Hailey’s voice was a hollow whisper. "So he's really dead."

Yohan simply nodded, his hand gently patting her head. "You carried all of that alone. You've been through hell."

She looked up at him, her eyes vulnerable, stripped bare. "Do you actually trust me, Yohan?"

"Why?" he asked, his gaze unwavering.

"Because... nobody would. It's insane. It's completely insane. The way You reacted would make more sense."

"I do trust you."

"But why?" she insisted, needing the anchor of his logic.

He offered the faintest ghost of a smile. "Why not?"

A wet, choked laugh escaped her. "It's weird... I almost wish you'd just tell me I'm crazy. That it was all a dream."

"But you know it wasn't," he said, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I know."

A fragile silence settled between them, the first moment of peace after the storm. It was broken by In-Ha’s soft, concerned voice from the back. "Are you okay?" She asked Jeha.

Jeha glanced at the baby in her hands. "Are you okay?"

Leaning back against the headrest, she closed her eyes. Oh yeah, she thought. That happened.