"Oppa!"
Half an hour ago, Min wouldn't have dared scream for him. He was too tall, his eyes round and heavy, his voice too powerful. It was callous, domineering, and demanded unwavering deference. She'd sooner disappear completely rather than shrinking and buckling beneath the boy's weighted gaze. So that's what she did, ambling down the halls with bulky, yellow headphones that alerted others to her disassociation; to ward them off. She sought a reputation of nonexistence. Having no friends to assume otherwise, she allowed passersby to determine for themselves that there was no reason to approach the distracted stranger.
Outside, a swelling mound of students piled against the windows of the cafeteria, sobbing and beating against the glass. The murmurings spread about the lunchroom had silenced, teenagers idling, bewildered by the spectacle that unfolded. What had incited a mob? Initially, she wondered if an armed intruder approached the school. If it were the case, then what were the students doing here, screaming, rather than hiding? No one knew, and no one could make out the source of the panic before cracks abruptly struck through the windows. Unease turned into petrification as the fracture grew, stretching towards the corners of the panes and branching into smaller splits that raced across the massive wall of glass.
She achieved the pentacle of mediocrity and maintained it, carrying as lacking a presence as she could manage. On the outside, she was a slow moving member of the masses whose life simply occurred. She didn't want to gauge interest, or attention. In sacrificing potential, she mostly evaded Oppa's leering attentiveness. Those eyes hanging low, hairs along the back of his neck bristling, no doubt anticipating a doe eyed victim crossing his path- it's as if he's starved. Eager to loom over others. And when someone caught his eyes, forced them to raise and meet their own, it was too late.
Chaos muffled behind glass. It presented the illusion of distance, separation, like the rest of them were untouchable. No one moved, spoke a word, or so much as breathed too heavily. The quiet had never been so paralyzing, but when the panes shattered, one by one, Min suddenly wished it could've lasted an eternity. In a matter of seconds, the cafeteria flooded with students exploding through the gaps. In a matter of minutes, pools of crimson wet the floor and smears of gore glazed the walls. The children's muted cries had developed into a hellish orchestra of savage howls and wails of torture that rang louder than the music humming against the girl's ears. The rabid students blended into the madness, and she couldn't keep track as they wrestled their victims to the ground, shrieking and writhing in a frenzy. Some kids climbed onto the tables or underneath them, and others dashed towards the kitchen along with a handful of faculty. It wasn't enough, though.
Everywhere she looked, she found dazed eyes and trembling hands. They'd meet, and she thought they were beckoning her towards their faux place of safety. She wouldn't ever know- in a split second, monsters wrenched them to the floor. Min pitied the slow confusion wounding their expressions, denial of something that they couldn't fathom happening; not now, not like this. It wasn't until they were drenched in blood, surrounded by the Rabids, that horror overtook their features and their bodies jerked from side to side in a hollow escape.
Why was she thinking about this? As if she's justifying something to herself- explaining the practicality behind driving a stake through even the narrowest opportunities, moments. What she'd done was in self-preservation. Shambling along, day in and day out, attending classes, answering correctly, answering incorrectly, chin up, eyes straight- surviving.
Bodies shouldered into her from every direction, collisions both propping her up and threatening to knock her to the floor. With each push, she shuffled backwards a step, arms slowly raising to encircle her waist. The melody drifting from her headphones had diluted into a faint drum, intermingling with the horrific sounds piercing her ears.
It was simple. In their world- in her head- to survive was to be invisible, and it got easier; not being noticed. However, she hadn't ever considered that the rules would apply so literally.
She couldn't begin to brace for the oncoming collision. Leant against the table, speechless and succumbed to the haze she'd witnessed so many innocents fall to, her searching gaze coolly surveyed the havoc- as if she were still invisible, observing from the confines of one-way glass. The senior's eyes, resembling that of pools of ink, cut across the room, widening but unblinking as they took in scenes of cannibalism and hysteria. She couldn't grasp why she wasn't running. It isn't as if she wasn't afraid- in fact; she was almost certain her heart had stopped minutes ago. Then maybe that was it. Maybe she was already dead, and simply a shadow trapped in a reflection of what were her last moments.
She had always behaved as if she were above it all, of participating. If she didn't react when she overheard someone else enduring Oppa's cruelty, then it wasn't her problem. If she didn't fully register someone inquiring whether they could borrow a pencil or offering details regarding a school club, then had she really done something wrong by not verbally responding? Furthering the interaction, reciprocating some amount of interest?
If that was the case, then had her last moments been that swift? So immediate and painless that she hadn't realized it was happening? It didn't appear as if a single soul would be granted such luxury. Willfully descending into the gentle coils of her thoughts, Min's searching gaze continued absentmindedly roaming the room. Too quickly, they were compelled to halt at another; a pair of eyes, utterly consumed by oozing orbs of red that flit about their hunting grounds. She understood then how absurd it was that she'd died. It couldn't have been quick enough.
Why wasn't she moving…
The creature, the marred and bloodied possessor of the startling gaze, tore across the cafeteria, somehow weaving both clumsily and intently amid the crowd. Their hair, once a shiny black twirled into a single, prim braid, was now muddied by rust blood crusting the free standing strands of hair that stuck out every which way. The closer they came, the more clear their struggles had been with patches of hair missing from their scalp and the front of their uniform sprayed in bloods surely belonging to more than themselves. Even as the crazed student neared, Min couldn't recognize exactly who they'd once been.
None of it matters, does it?
They crashed into her without a second thought, one fist snagging her waist while the other furled around her right shoulder. It lunged forward with snapping jaws, strings of pink tinted drool dribbling down the corners of her mouth. Min did the only thing she could think to do. Thrusting an arm forward, she jabbed her forearm beneath the deranged student's chin, bracing against their throat as much as she could to repulse its teeth.
The edge of the table bore into the small of her back, curled fingers gripping fistfuls of her clothing with frightening want. They struggled, Min repelling its intensive strength and fervor with some success until the warped student reared their head back. Everything sped up as she reacted instinctively, thoughtlessly.
Jaws wide open, it hurled its head down towards the clothed elbow that divided them. She jerked her arm out of the way, ineptly throwing a knee up in its stead as their weight came crashing down on her. Her waist buckled, back flush against the tabletop. The rabid student scrambled on top of her, fingernails digging further into Min's clothing as they climbed over her knee. A desperate shriek leapt from Min's throat, their face burrowing into her chest, mouth clamping against cotton fabrics- the only barrier between delicate, olive skin and serrating teeth.
"No!" A strangled cry climbed out of her throat as she shoved against its hunched shoulders, legs kicking spastically beneath it. It was futile, pain scorching her chest while a nauseating pool of luke warmth spilled over her front. Teeth tore strips of skin and chunks of flesh from her front, chewing, consuming it ravenously.
In a pulse of strength, she barged the body off to the side. The lulling melody of the music tapered off as sticky fingers pulled the padded muffs from her ears and they clattered to the floor. Shouldering past the rabid student, she took off, ramming mindlessly into the sides of she didn't even know who or what. It was all she could just to keep going until she broke through the mass of bodies and out of the cafeteria.
The hard soles of her shoes tapped rapidly against tile floors as she continued down the long corridor. Frenzied snarling carried through the hallway, bouncing against the walls from above and behind. To her right was a long stretch of glass rather than a plastered wall and through it another extension of the horror in the lunchroom. Stifled gasps sat in the pit of her throat as figures thumped against the glass and red stained her peripheral, choked screams merging with that of her pursuers.
Creatures rounded the corner several yards ahead of her, limbs flailing wildly. Their backs arched as they spotted the girl, jaws widening to blare an ear-piercing screech through the hall. Searing tears pooled in her eyes as they charged towards one another and she raced towards the stairwell. With a sharp veer to the left, her hand closed around the railing and dragged herself up the first couple of steps. From there, she bounded upwards, jumping three steps with each stride.
Lunatics flooded the stairwell, bumping carelessly into one another as they clambered upward in lacking coordination.
"Go, go!" another voice, deep and somewhat familiar, called ahead of her. The rapid thumping of heavier footsteps crawled into her ears, reverberating louder than the howling of the things chasing her. She was gulping for air that refused to enter her lungs and her insides burned. Still, she realized she needed to go faster.
She shot out of the staircase, immediately colliding with something else. They slung themselves into the wall opposite the stairway, limbs entangled and both slowed by fatigue.
"Asshole- Br.. Brother.. brother-in-law!" A hoarse voice coughed from a couple of doors down the hallway.
She stared into a pair of black eyes, bloodshot veins climbing rapidly towards their pupils. They snorted sharply, forcing gargled speech past their lips. The red vines pierced their irises and blood bloomed across whites of their gaze, pupils constricting as if they were choking. She hurriedly pushed herself away from them as they crumpled to the floor, sprawling outwards.
"Wait!" she called, sprinting towards the door. Conflicting cries quickly erupted from the classroom. Shrill and sobbing voices drowned one another out as she reached the sliding door, inhuman jaws snapping at her heels. A glimpse through the narrow aperture between the door and the wall; a tiny girl, boys fighting inches away, and then nothing at all as the panel slammed shut, smacking the wall with echoing rejection.
Author's Note: I apologize that the pacing was a little slow, and the beginning was short. I'm finding my footing in this first chapter. I'd love to hear your opinions, comments, and criticisms throughout Yoon Min's long story! Thanks for reading. I plan to post chapters regularly, at least once a week, if not more often.