001- The Kindest Thing I Ever Did
synopsis: you pulled the trigger because sunoo asked you to. jay never forgave you for it. the dead learned how to hunt. you learned how to live with blood on your hands. mercy didn't save anyone-it just made the end slower.
genre: zombie au, angst, slow burn, doomed romance, survivor!jay, survivor!reader.
warnings: violence, character death, grief, emotional damage.
mimi’s note 💌: hi loves, first chapter released!! took me forever, never had a chance to actually sit down and write😔 continue to look out for the remaining chapters. if you want to be notified, just comment so i can tag you :D! enjoy!
“you have no homework today,” mr. kim announced.
the entire class erupts with joy.
chairs scraped immediately against the floor as everyone immediately started packing their bags, already halfway out the door.
“ah-ah, wait,” mr. kim said, raising a hand. “if i remember correctly, today is april fools day.”
the classroom groaned instantly.
he grinned. “before you leave, make sure you read chapters eight, nine, and eleven for any assignments due tonight.”
“you’re evil” someone muttered from the back.
mr. kim could only laugh. “have a good day.”
more complaining filled the classroom.
you shoved your notebook and laptop in your bag when jungwon appeared beside you.
“i’m sick of this holiday,” he said. “every year somebody thinks they’re funny”
you laughed, slinging your bag over your shoulder. “no literally. i’ve never been more annoyed in my life than right now,” you chuckle. “lunch?”
“i would but i have a meeting with my counsellor in five.”
you hum in response. “damn okay. good luck!”
jungwon nods before leaving you in a empty classroom by yourself.
your phone began to ring.
you smiled a little before answering, pressing the phone to your ear.
red lights flashed overhead.
the firealarm exploded through the building so suddenly it made you jump, overlapping with muffled shouting from classrooms down the hall.
“all students must evacuate the building. i repeat. all students mus– evac–“
the announcement cut into static
bringing the phone back to your ear, you pushed through the noise. “hello? sunoo?”
the line disconnects itself.
you frowned at the screen for a second before shoving the device back in your pocket.
as you stepped into the hallway, students flooded the toward the exits loud, irritated crowds.
that’s when you saw the girl lying on the floor.
a trail of blood stretched behind her, smeared across the tile.
you started fod half a second before rolling your eyes.
“you’ve got to be kidding me,” you muttered under your breath. “this sick ass holiday.”
heading closer to the exit you hear a groan from behind.
the groaning sounded more groggy, startling you even more.
you speed up your pace towards the exit.
opening the door, everyone is outside interacting with each other.
a group of girls laughing in one corner, another eating lunch and studying.
inhaling through your nose and out your mouth, you continue to walk to the dining hall.
opening the dining halls doors you hear a scream, you turn your head towards the sound.
a girl falls towards the floor, her body unconscious.
people laughing, walking by, ignoring the girl on the floor.
you let out a shaky breath. your body slightly trembling.
“when will this shit be over.” you whispered.
another scream—closer this time.
in your peripheral vision, you see a body still on the floor. people begin to back away, slower than normal.
someone dropped their tray of food. it clatters against the floor.
“what the hell?” they whispered
people pull their phones out, hands shaky, as they record something you still can’t see.
and suddenly the room shifted.
you were done with the jokes.
until someone behind you made a sound that didn’t belong.
not a scream. nor a laughter.
the room got quieter in a way that felt wrong.
at the edge of the crowd stood the girl from the hallway.
her skin has gone wrong— pale, bruised blue.
blood dripping from her mouth slow and thick. like she had forgotten to swallow.
and she’s staring at you.
“it’s still april fools day. this is a prank.” someone shouts.
a few people groan in annoyance and some still skeptical.
you turn around once more, secretly promising yourself you won’t believe anything else that happens again.
“hey!” you hear on the side of you.
“sunoo! where have you been?” you smile, wrapping your arms around him. he did the same.
“i was in my lab. i hate lab lectures, they take forever to end.” he chuckles.
you chuckle along with him. the faint sound of footsteps echo through your ears.
“we need to leave. like now.” you whispered, your hands on his shoulders.
“are you not seeing what’s going on?”
sunoo raises a brow. “oh the zombie looking thing? it’s april fools! it’s all a joke.” he hesitates. “right?”
“no,” you said, sharper now. “we need to go.”
an alarm cracked overhead.
“evacuate the dinning hall! evacuate the—“
a scream cut through the announcement.
a student was dragged down near the tables.
something was on them—wrong, jerking, fast.
a wet snarl ripped through the noise.
for half a second, the entire room froze.
then someone screamed—“RUN!”
chairs slammed. trays clashed. people surged through all at once.
“go—go!” you shouted, pushing sunoo toward the exit.
as you and sunoo make an exit, your vision captures the girl sinked her teeth in human flesh.
“oh my god!” sunoo gasps.
blood dripping from the girl’s mouth as she tore into a student beneath her.
“sunoo!” you shook him. his body still in shock.
“sunoo!” you repeat. “we have to find your brother.”
sunoo blinks rapidly, waking up from the horror infront of him.
“my brother,” he exclaimed.
he began to pull out his phone, dialling a number.
you took his phone. “we have to find him on foot, we can’t stay here.”
the sharpness in your tone startled sunoo.
he nods his head immediately.
you grab sunoo’s hand, running off to another exit.
someone slammed into your shoulder.
your grip on sunoo slipped, causing him to hit the floor hard.
people ran in every direction, shoving past each other in blind panic.
someone stepped over sunoo, almost trampling him.
you pushed through the crowd and grabbed his arm.
sunoo planted his hands against the floor and pulled himself up, grabbing your hand tightly the second he could.
bodies crash into both of you as you forced your way through the crowd.
then a loud hush of wind thundered overhead.
you ran faster, your lungs burning from the speed.
leaving the dining hall behind, you reached the back side of campus.
the screaming hadn’t stopped.
students ran across the roads crying, some covered in blood, others limping as people dragged toward them.
fear spread faster than the infection itself
sunoo’s eyes brimmed with tears, nose flushed red.
“we’re gonna find your brother, okay?” you said breathlessly.
you ran once more, towards the science lab.
pushing past more people, you trip. losing your balance as you ran, your body collided with the stairs.
sunoo quickly picked you up, his body trembling against yours as he opens the door and drags you in.
closing the door, you get up slowly, holding your side.
sunoo slides his body against the door, defeatedly.
“i’m so scared.” his voice shaky and thick.
his body rattles against the door uncontrollably.
you sit right next to him, holding him.
“what even are those things?!” he yells, tears streaming down his face.
“i—“ you pause. “i—i don’t know…” you answered.
you hesitate. “i don’t think this is a prank anymore.”
sunoo pulls his phone out, dialling a number.
as the phone started to ring, a loud buzzing sound was coming from yours.
you pull your device out.
you click the notification. swallowing hard.
There is an infectious disease going around that is very deadly. It’s contagious by saliva, a scratch, and a bite. If you aren’t infected, flee the State of Korea. There will be support camps and helicopters to escort those that need to flee.
before you could get a word out, jay answered the phone.
“jay!” sunoo says in a breath.
“where are you?” jay questions, his tone sounding calm and sharp.
“i’m in the science lab. do you know what’s going on? you’re a science major, please, do you know anything!” sunoo says in between a cry.
the phone pauses. sunoo’s cry fills the silence.
“i’m coming to the science building. don’t leave.”
he nods his head even though jay can’t see him.
“do you hear me.” his tone collected.
“yes…” his voice cracky and trembled.
“don’t make a sound either. keep quiet as much as possible.” he whispers. “i’m on my way.”
jay hangs up the phone. sunoo sniffling.
you hold him tighter, closer.
as you hold him for support, you hear that same snarl.
your eyes shifted towards the sound. immediately covering sunoo’s mouth, you stand up.
you tip-toed the opposite direction from the person standing infront of you.
sunoo let’s out a shaky breath, walking carefully around the building.
the person drags itself from its hidden area, a lab coat on its body.
it’s jaw moved uncoordinated, leg snapped oddly, and it’s eyes white.
as you shoved sunoo, you kicked something.
the person jerks it’s head.
you immediately grab sunoo and run.
your feet hitting the floor creating more noise.
you could feel your heart in your ears, your blood warming up your body from anxiety.
“we can’t be together.” you pause. “we’re creating too much noise if we both run in opposite directions we’ll confuse it!”
sunoo pouts, his eyes brewing up tears.
“i can’t do this by myself.” he cries.
“shh, shh. yes you can. itll only be for a few moments.” you pull him in for a hug.
the walker getting closer.
“go in this door.” you point. “stay in there until your brother comes.”
sunoo holds you closer. “what about you?”
you let out a shaky cry. “don’t worry about me. worry about getting back to your brother.”
he removed himself from the hug.
he sprints towards the other door, his b foot entangling in a wire.
you think of a place to hide until jay comes.
you begin to run towards the elevator, pressing the up button.
you turn your head, sunoo on the ground.
blood coming from his head.
another low snarl erupts.
you turn your head in all directions to see where that sound was coming from.
looking straight ahead of you, was a person.
sunoo still on the floor, getting up slowly before he was met with the dead.
“sunoo!” you shout, not caring about the other person in the building.
you run towards sunoo, your mind blank.
another wet dragging sound followed behind you.
the elevator door is broken, a person glued to the floor distracts you.
your eyes widen as you turned your head towards him.
his body getting torn from the creature.
punching the thing that’s causing him the utmost pain with a deep bite.
you sprinted towards sunoo, jumping on your hands and kicking the thing off of him.
grabbing a scalpel, you stabbed the person instantly.
you dropped the scalpel, hands covered in blood and dead remains.
you hear choking in the back.
you crawled, throat creating a hard lump.
“sunoo! what—no..” you breathe. “no..”
sunoo, unresponsive. his hand holds onto his wound.
“we’re we close?“ he gasps. “tell him i tried.”
your hands apply pressure to his wound.
frowning, you place your forehead towards his. your tears dripping on his face.
“this…” he stops. “this is what mercy looks like, huh.”
you hold him tighter, his blood spilling on your clothes.
faintly, you hear the door open.
a flash of light cuts through the room, followed by a sound that pierces your ears.
he’s there in the doorway, breathing hard, taking the scene too fast to process it all at once.
sunoo still in your arms, barely holding on, his breathing uneven.
“jay!“ you shout. “over here!”
he sprints towards you immediately.
his weapon tucked into his waistband, half forgotten.
he drops to his knees beside you, eyes wide, scanning sunoo like he’s trying to understand what went wrong in a single second.
“what happened?!” he demands, voice breaking at the edges. “what happened to my brother?”
sunoo lets out a weak breath, eyes half-lidded.
“you’re hurting my ears,” he says softly, almost a joke, before coughing again.
like the sound didn’t land right in his head. like he’s trying to convince himself thid isn’t real.
you tighten your hold on sunoo, blood staining your hands and clothes as you press closer to him.
sunoo’s breathing stutters.
his fingers twitch against yours like he’s still trying to stay present.
“jay…” you say quieter now, your voice shaking. “hes—“
sunoo shifts slightly, forcing his eyes open.
like he’s trying to capture the moment.
“tell him…” he breaths, voice fading. “tell him i tried.”
his grip loosens slightly in your hands.
jay drops closer, shaking his head in denial.
he reaches out, like he can pull time back with his hands.
you’re still holding sunoo.
you didn’t even realize you had let go.
sunoo gives you a low stare.
“please…” he whispers, weaker now “i don’t feel good.”
like he knows what’s coming.
his eyes drift. not to you this time.
and there’s something in that look that isn’t asking.
like don’t make him watch this.
your body moves before your thoughts catch up.
like your hands belong to someone else.
jay weapon is there—too close, too real.
you don’t remember deciding.
you just remember the weight of it in your grip.
“no—!” jay’s voice breaks.
like it’s happening infront of someone else.
you don’t feel it happen.
silence presses in too hard.
nothing feels close anymore. just distant shapes, moving wrong.
for a second, he doesn’t even breathe right.
his eyes are locked on you.
not the noise. not the chaos.
like he’s already stopped fighting before anything finished happening.
because his brain is not asking questions anymore.
it’s remembering one thing.
“you were the last thing he saw”
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