Episode 5 — "Blood Ties"
Main Hall — 11:29 AM
The arrow still sticks out of Jay's chest, his breathing shallow.
Jungwon drops to his knees, pressing both hands to the wound.
Jungwon: "Stay with me, hyung. I'm not losing you."
Jay tries to speak, but coughs up blood instead.
Niki looks at the boy with the crossbow. "You idiot. You weren't supposed to—"
Guddu cuts him off with a swing of the bat, smashing it into the floor just inches from his foot.
Guddu: "Open the damn gates, or you're next."
Niki's smirk is gone, but he still doesn't move. Instead, he tilts his head toward the balcony.
The boy steps back into the shadows and disappears.
---
East Stairwell — 11:31 AM
Suhyeok leads Tanu, Jake, and Sunghoon to a dim side corridor.
Tanu: "Why are you avoiding Niki?"
Suhyeok's jaw tightens. "We used to be on the same team. Before all this. Now he's… collecting people. The ones who can fight. The ones who'll follow orders without asking why."
Jake: "Sounds like a gang."
Suhyeok: "Sounds like a trap."
Tanu notices Suhyeok keeps glancing at her — not in a casual way, but like he's trying to figure her out.
---
Back of the Main Hall — 11:34 AM
Jungwon and Guddu drag Jay toward a side door. Ushika takes the keys and unlocks it.
The second the door opens, a foul stench rushes in — and a figure lunges out of the shadows.
Ushika reacts first, shoving the door shut on its arm, bones crunching.
Guddu smashes the bat down hard, and the thing collapses.
Jungwon: "That wasn't human anymore…"
Guddu: "No. But it used to be."
---
Art Room — 11:36 AM
The group slips into the old art room — dusty, half-covered canvases, shelves stacked with paint cans.
Jay lies on the floor, pale. Jungwon kneels beside him, his hands still trembling.
Guddu: "We can't pull the arrow out here. He needs real help."
Ushika: "And where exactly do you think we're going to find that in a school crawling with infected?"
Jay grabs Jungwon's sleeve weakly. "Don't… waste… time…"
His eyes flutter closed.
Jungwon's face hardens — the scared boy from before is gone.
---
Gymnasium — 11:40 AM
Niki is pacing, talking to someone unseen in the shadows near the bleachers.
Niki: "The gates stay shut. The more they panic, the easier it is to control them."
A low voice answers: "And what about Suhyeok?"
Niki: "I'll deal with him myself."
The shadow shifts — revealing Krati, holding a hunting knife, her eyes cold.
Krati: "Just make sure you don't underestimate him… or the girl he's with."
---
Side Corridor — 11:42 AM
Tanu follows Suhyeok into a science prep room.
Suhyeok: "You're not scared like the others."
Tanu: "Maybe I just hide it better."
Suhyeok chuckles — a rare sound in this nightmare.
Jake interrupts, "Not to ruin the mood, but we're low on time. Niki's people could be anywhere."
Sunghoon suddenly freezes, pointing to the far wall.
A faint smear of fresh blood leads toward a storage door.
From inside, they hear… breathing.
---
Art Room — 11:45 AM
Jay's breathing has slowed even more.
Jungwon whispers to Guddu, "If I can get to the nurse's office, I might find something."
Guddu: "That's on the opposite side of the school."
Jungwon: "Then distract Niki. Keep him busy. I don't care how."
He grabs Jay's phone and stuffs it into his pocket.
Before Guddu can stop him, he slips out the side window into the rain-soaked courtyard.
---
Science Prep Room — 11:46 AM
Suhyeok slowly opens the storage door.
Inside, huddled against the shelves, is a girl in a torn green uniform — trembling, eyes wild.
When she sees Suhyeok, she whispers one word: "Don't… trust… Niki."
Before anyone can ask, she suddenly gasps and collapses forward.
A deep bite mark is visible on her arm.
Jake: "We have to get out of here now."
But Tanu's still staring at the bite… and at the strange pendant around the girl's neck — the exact same pendant Guddu wears.
---
Black screen.
Next: Episode 6 — "The Pendant"