LOGIN##AUTHOR’S POV By the time they reached the next street, the sky had grown darker.Claire glanced at the buildings around them, searching for somewhere they could spend the night. They had been walking for hours, and Mason was struggling to keep up. His steps had become slower, and every few minutes he rubbed his eyes as though fighting to stay awake.Ethan checked the map."There's a community centre two streets ahead.""Is it still standing?" Claire asked."According to this, yes. It was listed as an emergency shelter during the initial evacuation.""Then let's check it."They continued down the road.The community centre stood behind a low concrete wall. Its sign was partially broken, and several windows had been covered with wooden boards. A faded emergency shelter notice remained attached to the entrance.The main doors were damaged.One hung loosely from its hinges, while the other had been forced partly open.Ethan raised his metal bar."Stay behind me."He pushed the door inw
##AUTHOR’S POVThe infected crowded the staircases and railway platforms. Some wandered between the ticket barriers, while others stood near the abandoned trains. A few were trapped inside the carriages, pounding against the windows with their bare hands.The nearest train was dark.Its doors were open, but there was no sign that it could move.“Back,” Claire whispered.Ethan looked around.“There's another platform entrance on the left. We might be able to reach the tracks and get out through the other side.”They began retreating.A distant crash echoed from the upper level.Several infected turned. One released a shrill scream. The others responded almost immediately.“Run!” Ethan shouted.They turned toward the side passage.Claire grabbed Mason's hand, pulling him between the ticket barriers, next Sam, then Ethan followed, swinging the metal bar when an infected lunged from behind a pillar.The creature fell, but another rushed toward them.Ethan struck it across the face.“Keep
##AUTHOR’S POVThe message remained on Claire's screen long after she had read it.YOU HAVE TEN DAYS BEFORE THE ORIGINAL ENDING.Ten days.She had no idea what would happen when the countdown reached zero. She didn't know whether the original ending referred to the final events of The Last Bell, the completion of the experiment, or something far worse.But she knew one thing. They couldn't remain in Hwayang.The city was becoming a death trap. The recovery unit had taken control of the water-treatment plant, the research station was alerted to their presence, and every place they had used as shelter had eventually fallen.If they stayed, they would be hunted until there was nowhere left to run.Claire looked at Ethan.“We need to leave Hwayang.”He was sitting behind the steering wheel, examining the map he had taken from the maintenance station. He raised his head.“Where do you want to go?”“Busan.”Ethan stared at her for a moment.“That's quite a distance. And there's not enough f
##AUTHOR’S POV The windows trembled as bodies crashed against the house. Through the curtains, Claire caught glimpses of pale faces and reaching hands.“Upstairs!” Ethan shouted. “Find another way out!”Everyone moved at once. Logan remained where he was.“Logan!” Claire grabbed his arm. “Come on!”He looked at the door. Another impact made the lock groan. Then, unexpectedly, he began to laugh.It was a hollow, exhausted sound.He shook his head and lowered himself onto the chair.“I'm done.”“Get up!” Ethan shouted.Logan looked at him with a strange calmness.“I'm tired, Ethan.”“Then be tired somewhere else. Move!”“I can't.”Claire stepped closer.“Logan, please. We have to leave.”He looked at her.For a moment, the anger disappeared from his face. What remained was only exhaustion.“I don't know if my family is alive. I don't know where we're going. I don't know how many more people will die before this ends.”He glanced toward the shattered phone on the floor.“I'm tired of su
##AUTHOR’S POV Evening settled over the room. The others had spread out, trying to rest. Mason had fallen asleep on the sofa, while his sister sat near him with her arms wrapped around her knees. Logan remained in the kitchen, staring at the empty refrigerator.Claire hadn't moved much.Her dead phone lay beside her.She had tried turning it on several times, but the screen remained black.Ethan eventually found an old electrical socket in the living room. A small emergency power unit was still connected beneath a desk, and after checking it, he discovered that it still supply electricity.“It's not much,” he said, carrying the unit over. “But it should be enough to give your phone some power.”Claire looked up.“Thank you.”Ethan connected her phone and waited.The screen remained dark for several seconds before a small battery symbol appeared.He placed it beside her.“Give it a while.”Claire nodded.Ethan sat nearby, his eyes moving briefly toward Noah's still body before he loo
##AUTHOR’S POV The district was crawling with infected. They could hear them moving through the streets, sometimes accompanied by the crash of something falling inside a building. A few had gathered near the entrance to the residential lane, but they were facing away from the group.Logan led them along the wall, past a parked vehicle and through a small gate.The house stood at the end of the lane.Its windows were dark. The front garden was overgrown, and a layer of dust covered the porch. Logan tried the handle.Locked.He searched beneath a flowerpot and found a key.The door opened with a faint creak.They slipped inside and locked it behind them.For the first time in hours, they were somewhere the infected couldn't immediately reach.Claire leaned against the door, struggling to catch her breath. Her legs trembled beneath her. Mason sank onto the floor, while Ethan and Logan checked the windows.“Don't turn on the lights,” Ethan warned. “Not until we know how secure this place







