The office felt less like a workplace now and more like a grave waiting to be filled.
Emergency lights flickered weakly overhead, casting the entire floor in a dim red glow that made everything look soaked in blood. Broken desks were piled like barricades, computer monitors lay shattered across the floor, and papers drifted in strange corners like the building itself had given up trying to stay organized.
Nobody spoke.
Even breathing felt dangerous.
Jin led from the front, the steel pipe held tightly in both hands, every muscle in his body tense. Behind him, Seul-ki limped carefully, one hand pressed against the wall for balance while the other stayed close to him like she didn't trust the darkness not to reach out and drag her away.
Min Jae-Wo walked slower than the rest.
Actually, walking was generous.
He looked like he was barely holding himself upright.
His skin had gone pale enough to make him look half-dead already, sweat clung to his forehead, and every few steps, he flinched like something invisible had just hit him. His breathing came unevenly, and once, Jin noticed blood running faintly from one nostril before Min quickly wiped it away, as if he hoped nobody would notice.
But everyone noticed, though nobody said anything.
The sound hunter was still somewhere on this floor.
Every wet drag of claws they thought they heard made their hearts stop for half a second.
They needed somewhere to breathe and think, preferably somewhere that wasn't the middle of a hallway that anything could target them.
Minho pointed ahead, keeping his voice barely above a breath.
"Meeting room."
Jin followed his gaze.
It was a small office meeting room sat near the far corner, its door half-open, the faded sign hanging crookedly above it.
When they slipped inside, Minho carefully shut the door behind them, lowering it until the latch clicked as softly as possible.
For the first time in what felt like hours, nobody moved.
Daniel slid down the wall first, sitting heavily on the floor like his body had finally remembered exhaustion. Sora sat beside him, arms wrapped around herself so tightly it looked painful.
Seul-ki lowered herself carefully into one of the chairs, immediately wincing as her injured leg protested.
Min didn't even make it that far.
He stumbled once, twice, and Jin caught him before he hit the ground.
"Easy."
Min gave a weak laugh that sounded more like pain.
"Yeah… I'm trying."
Jin helped him sit against the wall near the table.
Up close, he looked worse.
His hands were shaking badly now.
"When that thing killed that man earlier I suffered some damage..."
He rubbed a hand down his face, exhausted.
"Anyone have a skill that might be able to help him?"
It was a long shot but surely the system didnt only give them powers for fighting.
Everyone looked up at him.
Minho answered first.
"Sadly no I only got enhanced strength."
Sora spoke next, "I got something that increases my reflexes so I guess I can react to things faster than others so I can't help either."
Daniel gave a tired nod.
"My body's tougher so I can't help him myself.
Seul-ki shifted in her chair.
"I can control gravity."
Everyone turned toward her.
She sighed.
"Don't get excited. It's unstable."
She pointed at her leg.
"This happened because I panicked and accidentally made the desk heavier instead of lighter, so I can't help him either.
Jin looked toward the last woman in the room, hoping her answer could change things.
She hesitated before speaking.
"I can heal."
Everyone looked at her immediately.
"And youre just telling us this now?"
She shrank a little under the new found attention.
"It's not like magic or anything. I can't wave my hand and make him be at a 100% again, I tried it earlier and it wasn't as helpful as I expected plus it drains me a lot."
Jin glanced at Min.
Then back at her.
"Could you help him?"
She bit her lip.
"Yes… probably. But if I use it now, and something attacks us later…"
She had a point if she drained herself too early it might be risky, and though Min was hurt he could still move so he wasn't in desperate need at the moment.
He made the decision.
"We wait on healing."
The healer girl nodded with visible relief and guilt at the same time.
"If he gets worse, I'll do it immediately."
Jin nodded once.
For the first time since the world had ended, they had a few minutes to sit still.
And sitting still was not what they needed right now, because now there was time to think about all they had lost and the fact the world was basically ending.
Jin stared at the steel pipe in his hands.
A few hours ago, his biggest problem had been missing the bus.
Now he was sitting in a dark break room covered in monster blood.
He thought the quiet wouldve remained for a while but ofcourse it lasted for about two minutes.
"Help! Somebody please-"
Everyone in the room froze.
Jin was already on his feet.
The voice came again, closer this time, whoever was talking was far too loud.
Min's face went white.
"No.. they will attract that things attention..." he whispered.
Jin moved toward the door.
"Don't shout!" Seul-ki hissed.
"Shut up!" Daniel called through clenched teeth.
But whoever it was outside either didn't hear them or was too terrified to care.
Footsteps slammed down their hallway and suddenly their door burst open.
A man stumbled inside, wild-eyed, covered in dust and blood, barely able to breathe.
He looked at them like he had just found salvation.
"Oh thank god," he gasped. "Something is following-"
Before he could finish that sentence something exploded from behind him.
One second the man was standing there, wild-eyed and desperate, and the next a long, twisted limb punched straight through his chest.
His body lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing, blood spilling down the creature's arm in thick, dark sheets. His hands twitched once, fingers clawing uselessly at the air, before the monster slammed him into the floor so hard the sound made everyone flinch.
The creature stood over the corpse, low and twitching, turning its head as if listening to hear if anyone else was in the room.
Jin's grip tightened around the steel pipe.
The creature twitched once as it stepped forward once.
Before it was Daniel, the person who was closest to the door, he was trying everything in his power to keep quiet as he moved further away from it but he accidentally stepped on a peice of glass.
That tiny sound felt louder than a gunshot.
"Move!" Jin shouted.
Daniel barely had time to throw himself sideways before claws tore through the chair behind him, splintering wood like paper.
Minho grabbed Sora by the arm and yanked her backward so hard she nearly hit the wall.
Seul-ki stumbled trying to stand, pain flashing across her face as her bad leg nearly gave out again.
Jin wanted to just stay still and hope for the best but if he didnt move now, more people would die.
Jin stepped forward and swung the steel pipe with both hands.
The pipe cracked against the creature's shoulder with a heavy metallic sound.
The monster recoiled, black fluid splashing against the wall.
It worked or so he thought, but the monster turned to face him now and Jin immedietly regreted everything.
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath. "Bad idea."
It came at him like a bullet.
Jin barely ducked in time, claws slicing through the air above his head so close he felt the wind of it. He stumbled forward, nearly losing the pipe, then twisted and drove the metal upward into the thing's ribs.
Another hit.
Another horrible screech.
But it wasn't enough.
This wasn't like the last monster.
Its body shifted strangely, almost like it was predicting him now.
It dodged the next swing.
Its claws slammed into his side.
Pain exploded through Jin's ribs.
He hit the ground hard, the pipe flying from his hand and skidding across the floor.
For a second, the world went white as the creature moved again ready to finish him off.
"Jin!"
Seul-ki's voice.
"Get up!"
Minho shouted next.
"Move, damn it!"
Sora was crying now.
Daniel grabbed a broken chair and threw it uselessly at the monster.
"Kill it!"
Min Jae-Wo heard all of it.
His body had been shaking since the fight started, but now it looked worse.
His hands clawed into the floor.
Blood ran from his nose.
His breathing came in short, violent gasps like his lungs were forgetting how to work
Jin saw it through blurred vision as he tried to force himself upright.
"Min… what are you doing..."
The sound hunter stepped closer to Jin, claws rising.
Behind it, Min slowly stood.
His body shook so badly it looked painful just to watch.
His eyes were unfocused.
His mouth trembled.
And then he screamed.
It wasnt loud at first, infact it was quite soft but then it grew.
And grew.
And grew.
To the point the scream filled the room like a living thing.
It wasn't just Min's voice.
It was layered from all of their earlier shouts and screams, he let it all out at once.
The walls shook.
Glass cracked.
The emergency lights flickered violently overhead.
The sound hunter froze.
Its body jerked violently, limbs twitching, claws scraping uselessly against the floor.
It tried to move but couldnt
Its head snapped side to side like it was trying to escape the sound inside its own skull.
Min screamed harder.
Blood spilled from his mouth now.
His knees trembled.
But he didn't stop.
The monster let out a horrible shriek.
Its entire form spasmed as it collapsed onto the ground where all its movement stopped.
Min dropped with it.
His body hit the ground like a puppet with cut strings.
"Min!"
Jin forced himself up, pain tearing through his ribs as he stumbled toward him.
Min was coughing violently now, dark blood staining his lips and dripping onto the floor. His breathing was shallow, weak, and every breath sounded like it hurt.
Jin dropped beside him.
"Stay awake."
Min gave a weak, broken laugh.
"That… sucked."
"Yeah," Jin said, gripping his shoulder.
The healer stood frozen across the room.
Jin looked up at her.
"Now."
She flinched.
"I- I don't know if-"
Jin cut her off.
"If you stand there thinking, he dies."
The healer swallowed hard, nodded once, and dropped beside Min.
Her hands trembled as she pressed them against his chest.
A soft light flickered beneath her palms.
Min's body jerked once.
Then again.
His breathing steadied slightly.
The healer leaned back, exhausted.
"That's all I can do right now."
Jin nodded.
It would have to be enough for now.
For a while, nobody spoke.
Outside, the building groaned like it was still trying to decide if it wanted to collapse.
Daniel finally broke the silence.
"So… what now?"
Minho sat heavily against the wall, staring at the dead thing on the floor.
"We leave. Right?"
Sora shook her head immediately.
"And go where? Outside?"
She pointed toward the broken window.
"There are monsters out there too. The streets are probably worse than this building."
"She's right," Seul-ki said quietly. "If monsters are inside, outside might just be hell."
Nobody argued with that.
Jin looked toward the faint red glow of the exit sign.
He didn't like the idea of staying in an unstable building that was falling apart but Min could barely breathe, half the group looked ready to collapse, and forcing everyone outside right now might just get them all killed faster.
Finally, he let out a slow breath.
"We stay."