Death Has Its Wonders - Tumblr Posts

DEATH HAS ITS WONDERS

DHIW CHAPTER GUIDE

. . . please read the chapter guide. It has all the necessary info like links to other chapters and content warnings

wc: +2800

chapter 1 of 6

And lastly, enjoy~

It isn't too far into the new year, and school has just started back. Some students yearn for spring already, and others could wait a lifetime for the weather to change. Lyra is one of those students. She hates spring- all of the pollen and the fluctuating temperatures. She'd tolerate it, though, because it's the favorite season of her favorite person. Her long-time crush, Riki.

Riki transferred to her school a little over a year ago. He was from Japan and was surprisingly fluent in English. He still had a slight accent, but Lyra found it to be no less than charming. She sat at her desk, spaced out, daydreaming of Riki. The words that spilled from the teachers mouth had no meaning to her as the boy of her dreams sits three desks away from her.

"Lyra," the teacher tapped her ruler on the girls desk impatiently. She looked up as if she had just awoken from a deep sleep. She was lost and had no idea what the teacher had said.

"What was your answer to question six?" The teacher repeated her question. Lyra felt her heart sink to her stomach as she looked down to her paper, devoid of any answers. The numbers and the symbols taunted her, laughing at her for not paying attention. She took a deep breath in and scanned the page for question six, paying occasional glances to the other students. All eyes were on her as she tried to quickly work out the basic math problem in her head.

"x equals 52" she answered. The teacher raised her eyebrows in a twisted look of disgust and surprise. To be fair, the snob never liked Lyra. She always found her to be too quiet, never seemingly paying attention, but somehow still very intelligent. She always knew the material despite not putting in any effort. The teacher hated that. Perhaps it was jealousy. Perhaps her divided attention without consequences irked the teacher's underlying narcissism.

"Correct," she said disheartedly. Before she could move back to the front of her classroom, a hand shot up.

"Mrs. Williams, I don't get it." Riki said. He had other talents, but math just wasn't one of them. Mrs. Williams sighed as she moved her way up to the board. Riki always tried his best to understand what she was teaching, but she didn't have the patience to teach him.

"Meet me after class, you come too, Lyra." Lyra furrowed her brows in confusion but complied. As the end of class neared, everyone stared at the ticking clock, counting down every last second. Just as the bell was about to ring, the power went out. All of the cellphones lit up and screeched a dealthy sound.

ATTENTION: IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT THERE IS A RAPIDLY SPREADING VIRUS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. IT IS RECCOMENDED THAT EVERYONE STAY INSIDE AND AVOID CONTACT WITH OTHERS AT ALL COSTS. NOT MUCH IS REPORTEDLY KNOWN ABOUT THE DISEASE, BUT THE INFECTED MAY LOSE COLOR TO THEIR SKIN.

Lyra closed the notification. Some of the students had already left the room. She tucked her phone into her pocket and left the classroom. Surely, that snobby teacher would cancel that meeting they were supposed to have. On her way to the bathroom, Riki stopped her.

"Hey, have you heard the rumors?" She shook her head. The notification just popped up. How were there already rumors?

"It's a zombie apocalypse," He whispered. She snorted.

"There's no way that's gonna happen," she denied. He looked at her with certainty that it would indeed be real. She pushed past him, making her way to the bathroom. She fixed her hair and readjusted her clothes in the mirror. She cleaned up the minimal smudge of mascara under her eyes and reapplied more.

Upon leaving the bathroom, she found Riki waiting by the entrance. He was leaned up against the brick wall, only turning his head to look down at her.

"Riki? What are y-" He cut her off.

"You don't believe me." He said. She scoffed at him.

"Well, of course I don't believe you! You said there are ZOMBIES"

"Lyra," He said. The way he said her name had every muscle in her body tensed, and her cheeks were flushed pink.

"Follow me." He said. She complied. He led her down the dark hallway towards the office. He held the door shut while they peered inside through the window on the door. The sunlight lit up the room. Inside were rotting corpses knawing at each other. The infection had reached their brains, causing them to lose the majority of their conscience. The rotting of their flesh had just started, thus making them still identifiable. It was a heart-wrenching sight, seeing the principal ripping away the bruised flesh of the secretary.

Lyra turned her head to avoid seeing anything more. It was traumatizing enough. Riki walked her back to their classroom. He stood at the doorway as she went in.

"Where are you going?" She asked him. Her words were genuine and saturated with worry.

"I have to check the class all of my friends are in, I'll be back." He said. She took his words as a promise. A promise he had better not break because now she was worried. He left, and Lyra closed the door behind him. A couple of her classmates sat in desks across the room, seemingly unphased by the situation.

"Get comfortable, guys, cause we're gonna be here a while." Lyra sighed. Her best friend, Juno, looked at her confusedly.

"It's gonna sound stupid, but there's zombies out there." Juno almost laughed at her friend.

"It's true! I'll take you and sho-" A loud thud hit the window. Lyra went silent with her mouth remaining wide open. Her eyes widened, and her breath stopped for a moment. Juno turned around, curious to see what made Lyra go dumb on her. She let out a quiet gasp. Though Juno hadn't seen what fell from the roof, it left a trail of blood on the window behind. Everyone in the room, which was only about six people, ran to the window and looked down to the lawn. A green and purple, bruised carcass lay in a puddle of its own blood. Anyone who was outside squealed and ran out of fear.

"I believe you now, Ly," Juno said, half-jokingly. Though it was still early, the sun grew closer to the horizon, teasing everyone with the darkness that lay beyond the hour. The electricity was out, so it would be dark all night. Everyone made sure to use the bathroom before coming back to the classroom for the night.

Lyra's heart was weighed down. Riki hadn't come back, and she had no clue where he was or if he was safe. However, with the remaining light the sun had to offer, they decided on blocking off the doors to further protect themselves.

Juno returned from the supplies closet with a couple of flashlights and first aid kits. We kept everything out on the teachers desk. Everyone emptied their backpacks to use as pillows for the night. They used the only blanket to stuff the small crack at the bottom of the door to add a touch of safety.

Then, with a heavy heart, Lyra laid down to go to sleep. Only after everyone fell asleep did she get up to see that the streetlights were still on. Only the school's electricity was out. With that observation, some of her fear was relieved. After wriggling her way back into the dog pile of girls, her stomach growled, and she hushed it. Tomorrow, they'd have to eat something.

The morning was quiet. Too quiet for comfort. Everyone who was in the room was still there. The morning sun provided Lyra with some sense of safety. It was still early. She felt it, but everyone's phone was dead except Juno's, which just so happened to be conveniently placed directly underneath her.

The two were close, so close that Lyra didn't hesitate to push her friend over and pull her phone out from under her. Her phones battery life was unhumanly. It still had 20%, and that alone would last half of the day using it regularly. Juno grunted and turned over, eventually sitting up to face the day. Upon looking at the screen, the two girls found it to be 8:30 am. Lyra's stomach began growling again, to which she became irritated. She always hated the sounds her stomach made when it functions.

"Looks like we need to go get food." Juno stated. The rest of the girls were sound still asleep. Lyra got up, and her friend followed. They knew they might run into a zombie outside of the classroom, so they searched the room for anything to use as a weapon. Juno checked the closet again, this time with less of a rush. Lyra checked the drawers on the teachers desk. One of them were locked.

"I found a weird key," Juno said, her voice sounding more enunciated to Lyra as she walked toward her.

"Oh, gimme that, it might go to this drawer." Lyra said. Juno walked over, key in hand. She handed it to her friend, who stuck it right in the keyhole. The drawer was full of candy, but that was about it. The girls still had nothing to defend themselves with. That wouldn't do them justice out in the halls. It's become a place even more wild than before. Juno takes it upon herself to beat up one of the wooden chairs in the classroom. She successfully broke one of the legs off, leaving a pointy screw and some splintering spikes from the broken wood.

"That should be good for now," Juno said, satisfied with her makeshift weapon. Lyra agreed, and they moved on to the next step: clearing the doorway so they could use the door. They emptied their hands and shoved desks and other furniture out of the way.

"I don't think we need this much furniture to block the door next time," Lyra inputted. The door was finally accessible and Juno picked her pointy desk leg back up. They opened the door and closed it behind them. They didn't worry about the small puddles of blood on the ground or the splatters on the wall as they made their way to the cafeteria. Juno handed the 'weapon' to her friend before explaining what she had planned.

"Ly," she started. Lyra hummed in response.

"You keep that, I'm going to find Gyu, I need to make sure he's safe." She mentioned her boyfriend from the class above us, Beomgyu. Lyra was sure he was fine. She certainly didn't want to risk losing her friend either. Though the other part of her knew Juno would be fine and could use this as an opportunity to see if Riki was ok.

"Ask if any of them have seen Riki," Lyra said. Juno nodded in agreement before taking off in the opposite direction. Weapon in hand, Lyra continued her way to get food.

The doors to the kitchen were closed. The employees only sign that hung above them hung lopsided and flickered. The fluorescent lights buzzed despite remaining unlit. Lyra took a deep breath in. The chipped dark paint on the old doors never looked so intimidating. The mustered up all of her courage to poke it with her makeshift self-defense tool. The door creaked, letting the shadows of the dark room seep out into the light. She took her shaky hand, pushing it lightly to open it further. The door creaked as she took her time, only opening it a few centimeters.

From the inside, a hand grabbed the door, flinging it open. Lyra turned around, dashing to the opposite side of the cafeteria. The huffing man stood alert, weapon in hand. He was equally scared but also equally uninfected. He was tall, and his silhouette loomed in the doorway. The sun had peeked through the clouds, illuminating the guy just enough to show his face. Lyra then realized that the man in the doorway was Riki.

"It's just you!" Lyra said through her heavy breaths. Riki let out a relieved chuckle. It was deep and unreasonably attractive. Lyra felt her heart palpitate in response.

"I came to get food for the girls' class." She said.

"And I came to get food for the boys', I have plenty. Let's merge classrooms," He quickly suggested. They let down their defensive poses and walked toward one another, mingling in conversation.

"That's not a bad idea at all." Lyra noted. She imagined the team they could build together. More people, though it meant more resources, also meant more protection from external factors, especially as the virus spread.

"Let's do it," she confirmed her quick decision. The two now walked back to the classrooms, deciding on the girls' room as it was bigger and had more stuff. The boys' classroom had less stuff and could easily be transported.

In the boys' classroom, eleven of the twelve boys were now present with Riki there. Beomgyu was missing, and Juno was nowhere to be seen. Lyra sighed, having assumptions of their whereabouts in mind.

"Don't worry," Jake laughed. "They just went to get bedding from the nurses office!" Riki smiled as he looked over to Lyra, rolling her eyes.

"Who are we talking about? Is it some couple?" Riki asked.

"Yeah," said Lyra. "It's my stupid best friend Juno and her even stupider boyfriend, Beomgyu." Riki laughed at Lyra's attempt at a harsh comment.

"She's just mad because of how single she is!" Yeonjun teased from beside her, sitting on one of the desks. He knows she likes Riki and is definitely trying to set her up.

"Stop Yeonjun, or I'll knock your teeth out," she remarked, trying to appear intimidating.

"Yeah, yeah, sure you will." Said Yeonjun, earning a punch on the thigh from Lyra. He winced at the sudden impact.

"You hoe! We're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I need to stay in tip-top shape to protect everyone!" Yeonjun was interjected by Beomgyu, who just came in, hand in hand with his girlfriend.

"More like just beginning, there's still like 3 billion more people that need to be infected before we can say we're in the middle of it." Beomgyu said.

"Already at a billion?" Taehyun asked. Beomgyu nodded in response.

"It's spreading fast. We need to get it together." Jake said. Anxiety filled the previously lighthearted room.

"Welp," Riki started. "I figured we would all move into the girls' classroom together and form one big team until we can get the entirety of the school under control as a base." Riki said. He presented his idea flawlessly. Everyone naturally agreed.

"Let's get moving then!" Jake answered, and everything began to fall into action. The boys gathered supplies and odd contraptions they'd made over the last night of being here. It was a very boyish thing of them to do.

In the classroom, everyone was greeted by a newly organized setup. Karina waved, smiling at everyone. She was among the nicest and most popular girls in school. It just so happened to be a very well-deserved title.

Juno sat on the teachers desk near her friend from the science team, Taehyun. The two's friendship always irked Beomgyu's jealousy. He and Taehyun had always been best friends, and he knew Taehyun wouldn't make any moves, even if he liked her. But he still didn't like the way taehyun couldn't help but glance at her and check her out. He didn't like how his cheeks would flush red when she looked back at him.

"Ok bro, chill," Heeseung patted Beomgyu on his back. He had unintentionally given his friend a death stare, which was what had made him blush in nervousness, not Juno.

"Sorry," Beomgyu said, scratching his head. He averted his attention to reorganizing some of the new things in the room. Sunghoon brought in a battery-powered mini-fridge from the teachers' lounge where they would store whatever they could fit in it until they could fix the electricity issue.

Finally, they were set for the night. All that was left was sleeping arrangements. All eighteen people would pile together like cavemen for the night. All except for two people whom no one wanted to be stuck between or beside.

"We aren't that bad!" Juno said. The way Beomgyu held her waist proved otherwise.

"It's fine, No, at least we have more personal space." Her boyfriend made light of the 'situation', winking at her flirtatiously. Lyra and Riki very audibly made it known how disgusted they were, faking puking sounds and coughs. Juno was about to snap at them but stopped herself in order to not reveal her best friends secret.

"Let's go to bed." Beomgyu finally said.

"I love that song," Juno said, not exactly getting the cue.

"Goodnight," Riki said. Everyone began piling on the blankets splayed on the floor. Lyra ended up squeezing between her best friend and Riki, who politely asked if it was ok for him to sleep beside her. She certainly didn't turn him down.

"Thanks," He whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

"You're welcome, Riki." She said.

DEATH HAS ITS WONDERS

DHIW CHAPTER GUIDE

. . . please read the chapter guide. It has all of the necessary info like content warnings and other chapters

chapter: 2 of 6

Wc: +3300

and of course, enjoy~

The classroom was tinted red as of this morning. The sun shone through splatters and streaks of blood that coated the window. As people began waking up, they'd realized it was time to start reinforcing the windows. In their current state, they wouldn't last another week with the damage they'd taken since the virus broke out.

"Guys, wake up," Ningning was among the first to wake up. Beomgyu grunted and rose from the ground. His arms were empty, and that was not how he fell asleep.

"Where is she?" He complained. His girlfriend, Juno, wasn't there. It just so happened that Taehyun was missing, too. He got up faster than anyone had ever seen and left for the hallways. Lyra and Riki chased after him.

"Why are you throwing a fit? You know neither of them would do that to you," Lyra scolded. Beomgyu stormed through the hallways, checking the bathrooms and the closets.

"Bro, it's literally obvious where she is." Riki almost laughed. Lyra smirked at him, knowing what he was thinking. Beimgyu stopped abruptly and turned to face the two.

"Fine, then where is she?" He perched his hands on his hips in a sassy manner. Riki snorted at him and walked past him, taking the lead. Beomgyu walked behind him angrily.

"Calm down bro- she loves you," Lyra tried to comfort him, but her annoyed voice fired him up more.

"What if you found out Riki had a girlfriend? Wouldn't you be upset?" Beomgyu's emotions got the best of him. He accidently let out Lyra's secret right in front of Riki himself. Riki stopped and turned around after hearing his name.

Lyra attempted to play it off like she never thought of Riki that way. The rest of their walk was silent until they reached the door to the biology classroom.

"Here," Riki said, stopping in front of the closed door.

"How did I not think of this? It's such an obvious place!" Beomgyu sighed. Still, he braced himself for a horrible sight. Was she dead? Or even worse, was she cheating with Taehyun? No, wait- her being dead is worse, right? His thoughts raced as he pushed the door open. His eyes began to hurt from being squeezed shut, and just as he opened them, he saw Juno. She was hyperfocused on looking at something under a microscope. Taehyun was on the other side of the room, taking samples from a zombie they'd successfully captured.

"How long have your nerds been here?" Beomgyu yelled. Taehyun hushed him as the zombie that was taped to the wall attempted to squirm its way out of the trap.

"We came here just before sunrise. We wanted to study into the disease ourselves." Juno answered.

"Can't you just look at the CDC's website?" Lyra asked.

"Do you really trust the government?" Juno remarked. The group silently heeded, agreeing that the government most certainly could not be trusted.

"I was so scared-" Beomgyu started.

"Shut up, we don't wanna hear it," Lyra cut him off. Juno gave her boyfriend a look down, checking out every part of him. Beomgyu looked away, shy as if he was still in the initial stages of his relationship.

"Got relationship envy, Riki?" Taehyun noted.

"What's that?" Riki asked.

"The way you observe them with that smug look on your face tells me you wish it was you instead," Riki looked shocked and confused.

"What kind of sorcery are-" Juno cut him off.

"Psychology, not witchcraft. And he's right, you look like you got someone in mind you wanna experience this with." Juno said. Her boyfriend tried to get close, but she shooed him off.

"Gyu, I love you, but you're gonna have to wait until I get cleaned up." She was wearing everything that could protect her from the virus she spent the day inspecting.

Beomgyu was relieved to see his girlfriend in the flesh doing what she does best- science. It's always been Juno's passion. He felt his blood rushing through his body at the sight of her. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he asked about their research. And unbeknownst to him, Juno's intelligence was just another thing he found undeniably hot about her.

"Well," Taehyun started, which disappointed Beomgyu.

"Well, first, don't look at me like that, you literally asked!" Taehyun snapped. His friend was looking at him with a bored face as if to say, "Why did you even start yapping?"

"He's got his mind in the gutter," Riki pointed out. Taehyun hummed in response.

"I forgot, he's into smart girls,"

"More like nerdy whores" Lyra joked.

"Hey you're the whore, Ms. Thirty-five backup crushes!" Juno came to her own defense.

"Anyways," Beomgyu interrupted.

"We actually need to know about the virus," He said.

"Well, we still have a lot to find out which we need to find a subject for." Juno said. Despite Beomgyu's attraction to her intelligence, he was weirded out by her unhealthy obsession with medical experimentation and test subjects. Though he understood her need to actually have one for the situation given.

"But we have found out that the virus can be spread through minor contact. This means that by no means should anyone EVER touch a zombie. If it contacts your nose, mouth, eyes, or anything that grants access to the inside of the body-"

"BEOMGYU THIS ISNT A JOKE!" Lyra smacked her friends boyfriend on the shoulder. Riki and Taehyun followed, completely losing it over Juno's explanation. After the laughter fit, Juno continued.

"It can get into your bloodstream, and when it reaches your brain, you remain conscious, but not in control of your body, so it's like watching yourself eat other humans and people you love from the perspective of a spectator. And yes, your pain receptors still work, but your body does not react to them. " she explained.

The room suddenly had a rain cloud hanging over its occupiers. The need to joke and laugh died down as they took in the serious effects of the virus. They imagined their loved ones, each other, themselves.

"Let's get back to the classroom, we have some cleaning up to do." Riki said. The rest of them followed. Everyone's steps became cautious, doing whatever they could to avoid getting blood on their shoes and clothes.

"I'll get some supplies from the janitors closet since we'll be cleaning." Taehyun said. Beomgyu and Juno went to help.

"You two go on back and inform everyone else that we're gonna clean up the room." Juno instructed Riki and Lyra. They both nodded and walked on down the hall.

"So, remember that relationship envy those nerds were going on about?" Lyra broke the silence between the two. Riki looked over to the girl beside him, lightly furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Do you," Lyra paused. "like someone?" Riki was slightly shocked at the question.

"I guess you could say that- you mean like romantically?" Lyra nodded.

"Then yeah, I guess I do," Riki sighed.

"Cool," Lyra awkwardly said. Winter opened the door for the two once they'd reached the classroom. Riki took on his natural leadership skills and extroversion to call everyone to action.

"Guys, today we're cleaning up in here. We need to take a lot of extra precautions to prevent us from literally dying." Somehow, Riki spoke effortlessly. His simple ability to socialize effectively was one of many traits that Lyra found attractive about her crush.

Beomgyu, Juno, and Taehyun finally made it to the classroom, each one carrying an overwhelming amount of cleaning supplies. Giselle took things out of their arms that were nearing a good fall and placed it all on the teachers desk.

"The girls from class 3A are joining our team or whatever you call it," Giselle informed everyone. They were running out of space however, as the classroom already held eighteen people. It was uncertain whether they could fit five more.

"Tell them to wait, we dont have space." Karina instructed.

"Besides, the 3B boys can protect them if they haven't already merged or been killed." Jake added.

Sunoo took the mop and wiped the windows down, removing any signs of the virus. To his surprise, the mop water turned completely red.

"It looks like the windows cracked," he said.

"That's not gonna cut it. We have to fix that." Taehyun sounded slightly worried. Sunoo put down the mop into its bucket.

Everyone covered themselves up with gloves and aprons and masks to avoid contacting the blood that seeped in through the window. The entire room was quickly sanitized from top to bottom. Riki laughed at his reflection on the floor, making Lyra question what exactly she liked him so much for. However, she quickly halted the moment he looked over at her.

Sunghoon came into the room with thick gloves and safety glasses on. He flipped the light switch, and in favor of them, it worked. He was forced by his parents to take at least one trade school class in high school. His choice just so happened to be electricity.

Jake and Jay came in with drills and hard, clear plastic. They drilled it over the preexisting window to cover the crack and prevent any further damage while still allowing them to see outside. Beomgyu and Soobin took to the nerdier side of things and cleared out the laptops in the classroom that were now able to charge thanks to Sunghoon. Huening Kai and Ningning drug a refrigerator to the classroom that could now be used. Riki and Lyra killed any zombies they encountered on the way.

Slowly, a base camp started to come together. They still had a ways to go, but things started to look more promising and livable. They spent the rest of the evening doing what any group of teenagers does- gossip.

"Let's talk about crushes," Winter suggested. Everyone agreed, each person having their own bits of information to spill. The girls and boys naturally separated. The boys outnumbered the girls by a lot aside from the fruitier guys who would rather talk to the girls.

"I know Riki's crush!" Yeonjun giggled, trying to keep quiet. The girls gasped.

"Don't we already know who it is? Its so obvious" Karina rolled her eyes.

"I guess you're right, then I'll tell you guys who Sunghoon likes instead!" Yeonnun went on before Lyra had a chance to ask who it was. She tuned out the conversation, not caring who liked who, as long as Riki didn't end up with another one of these girls. If he did, Lyra promised herself that the girl would be decapitated.

"No way-" Giselle said.

"He likes me? I thought he was gay-" she gasped. Yeonjun hummed a "mhm," in response.

"I feel bad now, I like Huening Kai!" She whined. The girls gasped.

"Really!?" Juno said, hyping her friend up. Giselle nodded.

"That's so cute. It's too bad he likes Eunchae from class 3B," She let her secret slip that she'd promised to keep. The conversation lasted until a crowd of zombies gathered at the door, banging on it simultaneously. It had the same effect as an earthquake would.

"The light and sound must be attracting them." Taehyun noted.

"That looks like more than we'd seen before, doesn't it?" Jay asked. He looked back to his friend, looking down through the window.

"Guys, we're safe for tonight, but it looks like the zombies have done more than multiply in number," Jungwon stared at the school's entrance.

"What's happening? Lyra asked. Jungwon replied.

"They broke down the school's entrance door."

We made sure the doors were well blocked before going to bed. Tomorrow, we would deal with the mass numbers that would roam the hallways. Tonight, I lay beside Riki and ponder things I tried to force down - my feelings for him.

It was hard to deny what was between us. The way he would look at me, the way he stayed with me at all times, and now he's laying beside me for the second night in a row. Before I even try to sleep, I accept the fact that I won't be able to. In my peripheral vision, I see another body move. It's Juno. She gets up, and Taehyun follows. It's not just before sunrise. Everyone's only been lying down for an hour. Was she really cheating? I wait a couple of minutes after they leave to get up and follow them.

The hallways are dimly and sparsely lit by the few lights that are still working. The two don't go to the science lab and instead go downstairs. This is getting suspicious. I hide in the classroom they enter, I wonder if they notice the people in there. My question is answered when Juno tapes her mouth shut and they tie her arms behind her back. She kicks and tries to scream, but she can't form any words. They drag her back to the science lab, careful of any zombies that might follow the screaming girl.  I follow them, but when I'm in a darker part of the hallways, something grabs my wrist and pushes me to the wall.

"Why are you out here?" A deep voice growls furiously.  My heart palpitates.I swear it'll burst out of my chest at any moment. The man towers over me, not letting go of my wrist.

"Riki- I was just following them."

"Do you know what kind of danger you just put yourself in?" I gulped, I don't know if I was more upset that I disappointed Riki or more nervous about the way he was handling me.

"Let's go back to the room." He simply orders and pulls me back, not letting go of my wrist. I comply without a fight, because why would I not do something this man tells me?

"What are they doing with that girl?" I ask, wondering if he knows.

"You don't know her, do you?" He asks.

"No, just wondering."

"They're using her for an experiment, they're gonna watch how the disease progresses."

The rest of our way back to the classroom was quiet. Under one of the ugly lights, we walk a little slower. I looked over to him to see he was already looking at me. I can't help but admire him. His every feature is perfect.

I open the door to the classroom, and we both go in. He closes the door for me, and we lay back down. Tonight was actually a lot easier than I thought. I fell asleep quickly beside Riki.

A piercing scream wakes me up. The sun still hasn't risen and I'm unsure of how long I've been asleep. I follow the scream all the way to the lab to see a crazed Juno injecting the girl with the saliva of the other hostage. Taehyun is writing everything that happens into his notebook as if this is normal. He looks at me and I remember Riki is back in the classroom. He's not gonna be happy that I ran off again. Before I can say anything, I'm running back to the classroom. Hopefully Riki won't notice I've left. 

When I open the classroom door, the window shows me that the sun is starting to peek over the mountain in the distance. It's early, but a good time to start working again. I start by waking Beomgyu. It's the perfect time as a loud crash from three floors down told me the entrance was now completely open. Zombies were likely piling in. Juno and Taehyun are still in the lab. I'm a bit worried about them. Luckily, Beomgyu wakes up easier than on most days. 

"What bro-" his tired voice complains. 

"Zombies are piling in and Juno and Taehyun are in the lab, we need to go get them." Beomgyu sprung up, but he wasn't the only one. 

"Not without me you're not." Riki has become very protective of me. It makes my heart palpitate, but there's no way to tell if he feels the same. Everyone else starts waking up. Today, we'll split into teams. One group will raid grocery stores, we need to stockpile more food. Another team will accompany them as defense. The third team will stay on site and fix up more places and start developing a community. 

"When we get back, we'll draw names to make teams." Riki instructs and the others prepare while we go to get those two nerds. as soon as we open the door, zombies smell us. Riki puts me behind him as a horrible attempt at protecting me. Zombies are closing in from all sides. i roll my eyes and start fighting. We haphazardly dance with death, flowing about the halls. The lab door in shut. a frenzy of zombies stand in front of it, hoping to get a taste of the two inside. 

I never would've thought that they don't need our help. The lab door opens and Juno is throwing knives. They may be safer than us, having actual tools and thick lab coats. Not to mention, that friend of mine is out of her mind. Beomgyu rushes up to her, desperate for a hug.

"Guys, why are you out here? You have nothing on you!" Taehyun scolds us, but he isn't wrong to. We're utterly unprepared to face these zombies. I step inside of the lab to find their nice little set up. Zombies held hostage on one end of the room, tools and weapons on the table, and you cant forget the plethora of chemicals that they've gathered. 

I look back at the table. From their collection of tools, I take the knife. They'll be upset if I mess up the actual scapula. Riki is fighting for his life with a baseball bat he got lucky enough to find. His long arms give him a good range though. He looks over to me now that I'm back in the hallway. He tries so hard to protect me, but the complete and utter terror in his eyes tells me its my turn to be protective. 

I pierce the first zombie with my knife. It slides with ease through the flesh until I reach the spine. I pull it out at an angle, making sure to mangle the throat of the zombie. It's head plops forward and it can no longer stand up. the blood that spews from the wound is warm and thick on my arm. Riki stands beside me, beating in the heads of anything that gets in his reach.

We were successful in taking down that swarm. For a moment, time stops and the hallways are empty. Both ways look like a crime scene. It's still like a photo. The atmosphere is muggy and haunting. Riki stands facing me. His breathing is slightly labored and he peers into my eyes. His reaches a hand up to me cheek and brushes away a drop of blood that must have got on me. The moment is intimate.

Footsteps that echo break me from my trance. The others are heading back. Riki and I follow them closely behind. Each step that doesn't have a crisp echo is splashing in the thick, still puddles of blood. Most of them are warm and still fresh. I glance behind us to find red footprints with the patterns of our shoe's soles.

The lights are weak and dim, only everyo other one is working. They scream to be turned off and put out of their misery, much like the wailing of those recently turned.

I'm the classroom, everything looks nearly normal again. Everything is so clean, so we all take off what we can before going inside. A few backpacks were volunteered to hold the bloody clothing. Luckily, no one had to get naked.

"So, we've decided to make 3 different teams," Karina says.

"You two," she points at me and Riki. "You'll stay here and help empty the school of infected people."

"So we get to kill people as a job?!" Riki sounds excited. Karina nods at him and he jumps in excitement.

"Everyone else already has their jobs, so get to it," Karina says before leaving to go assist whoever.

Riki looks at me with a smirk on his face. He heads over to where we put away all of our tools and gets out a few nails. He throws his bat over the desk and hammers the nails into them, upping the damage of his weapon. The first thing on our list is clearing our floor.

"Ready?" He asks me.

"Ready."

DEATH HAS ITS WONDERS

. . . Chapter Guide!

Green: posted! White: Not yet posted/written

+ taglist

+ check out more works here

About DHIW:

Summary: a zombie apocalypse takes over the school. Riki and Lyra have to figure out how to survive alongside all of their friends. On top of everything, they start to feel attracted to each other and aren't sure how to go about it in such a situation.

+ y/n is Lyra

+ content warnings: descriptive gore, angsty, death, 18+ implications (not riki), multiple groups are mentioned, kiss scenes

+ beomgyu x readers bsf

+ avg w/c per chapter: 2300

Chapter 1/6

(8/30/24)

. . . w/c: 2800

Chapter 2/6

(8/30/24)

. . . w/c: 3300

Chapter 3/6

(9/6/24)

. . . w/c: 2031

⚠️ gore scenes are very descriptive

Chapter 4/6

(9/21/24)

Chapter 5/6

(10/11/24)

Chapter 6/6

(10/21/24)

Yall I'm so sorry I was gonna work on dhiw but my man

Him and seungmin are gonna be the death of me

DEATH HAS ITS WONDERS

DHIW CHAPTER GUIDE

. . . please read the chapter guide. It has all the necessary info like links to other chapters and content warnings

wc: 2031

chapter 3 of 6

⚠️ this chapter has graphic depictions of gore and violence

Otherwise, enjoy~

The halls were empty, but the way every sound we made echoed back to us almost felt like the darkness was mocking us. The buzzing of the ugly lights might as well have been laughing at us as we confidently strode down the halls, splattering blood under our shoes. It was quiet- too quiet. It felt suspicious being so empty, not a single zombie in sight. It had the same eerie feeling as a horror movie moments before a jump scare.

Oddly enough, I was relieved when we finally ran into one. Riki took it out in a single hit with his bat. I detour away from him just to look down the stairwell. I gasp and step back at the sight before me. A girl from class eight is being hoarded. That's why they'd been quiet, they're all on the bottom floor and they're being fed.

The sight and sound of the girl's flesh tearing nauseates me. The zombies peel away at her, leaving her muscles exposed and cold. Blood runs down her wounds and spills onto the floor. Her wailing is agonizing and terrifying, but it's nothing to the zombies anymore. They're all far too gone. One of the zombies bites into her throat, causing her to choke on her own blood. I look away, it's too much. I may never get the image out of my mind.

Riki is facing me, looking at me with a sorrowful gaze. He looks as if he pities me for what I just saw. Now isn't the time for pity. I push back the aching in my heart and hide the fresh trauma that's been branded into my mind. Not a word is said between the two of us. Our eyes will speak in place of it.

We still have to act. There's a job to be done, and it doesn't pause for us. Riki takes the first step, guiding me to one of the closets. He opens the door and gestures to me to step inside before him. He follows behind me and closes the door. My body is weak from witnessing the girl be eaten. I let myself lean against the wall. The cinder blocks scratch my back as I sink to the cold floor. The room is hard and damp, only lit by the sunlight that comes in through the tiny window. I hug my knees that are pressed into my chest.

I look up to see Riki. His brows are furrowed in deep thought as he observes different parts of the room. I follow his gaze to a number of objects. That's when I realized what he's thinking. We need something to block the staircase as we go. Something like a checkpoint. It has to be strong though, and big enough to block the entire thing. I look around for myself now, seeing what all is available to us. A light bulb... useless. A cardboard box... also useless. A long rope... not too bad! We could make a sort of net to hold them out. I jump up from the ground and grab it with a newfound hope.

Riki turns around to face me. His expression is completely new, now flaunting a determined smile. That simple look refreshed my mind and I feel a touch of life inside of me again. He opens the door and we go out with confidence. Confidence that everything will be ok.

The zombies have made their way to our floor finally. There's only a handful right now, maybe six or seven. Still not too much for us to handle. Riki doesn't hesitate to use his bat. The heads of the nails bash into the zombies head with ease. Its flesh is too rotten to try and fight it. The bones of the skull crush on impact with a crunching sound. The zombie's face is severely deformed. The part.of the brain that was still working had to have been punctured by something, whether it be the nails on the bat or the crushed bones of the skull. It falls to the floor, blood and pus drains from the impact site. The pus is disgusting. It's white and green and looks like it has a thick texture. It mixes poorly with the thinner blood that surrounds it as the two substances pool around the corpse. It looks terribly infectious. I try not to gag as the smell of blood and decay fills the room.

We move forward nonetheless. Riki takes on the zombies at the staircase, and I eliminate those who've got past him. It's simple as they don't have the best balance. One of them slips in the blood and falls on top of the already annihilated one. Their weak bodies collide in a disgusting show of fireworks. Rotten flesh and infected blood splatter on the ground. They're more fragile than I'd thought. The panic in me starts to dissipate and I'm really a bit underwhelmed. I merely kick the next zombie in its shin, causing it to break its leg and lose its balance. I can't look away as it falls over on its own broken leg bone. The bone pierces through the body flawlessly and with ease. The sound is sloppy and disgusting. I'm gonna have to get used to this.

The rest of the staircase is mostly clear, so we take that time to rope off the top floor. And by we I mean I'm gonna stand there and watch as Riki does all of the work. I can undo knots phenomenally, but tying them? I'm lucky I can tie my shoes. We haven't spoken in a while, and I honestly don't feel much of a need to. I'm comfortable in our silence. Perhaps it's because we're close, but it's more likely that I'm just too preoccupied with watching his hands work their magic. It's common knowledge that I find hands like his attractive. After tying the last knot, he looks up to me with a proud smile. I'm not sure how to respond, so I smile back and give him a thumbs up. He laughs at my gesture and gets up. He tied it in such a way that nothing lacking basic cognitive abilities could get through. Anyone else can easily get in. Our next step is to safely clean up the mess of bodies that still litters the ground.

It isn't going to be an easy task. We head to the lab to see if Juno and Taehyun have any protocols for us to follow while cleaning. We're careful not to slip on the way there, and upon arriving, we try to minimize the amount of bodily fluids we track into the room. We're surprised to find Taehyun by himself. They usually work as a pair. He looks up from his notebook, waiting to see what we need.

"Where's Juno?" I ask before proposing the real question. Taehyun, who was leaning forward onto the desk, readjusts himself in the chair and is now leaning back. He sighs before replying.

"You'd think a virus that kills upon entering the body would be enough to scare someone, especially a scientist, out of doing certain things." I purse my lips in slight disappointment. Riki laughs in a low voice.

"What else do you expect out of those two?" He jokes. Taehyun shrugs.

"What are you two really here for though?"

"Do you have any protocols for cleaning? Especially for the pus that drained from one of the zombies." Seeing Taehyun's glossy boba eyes light up at me mentioning the infectious pus was the last thing I thought I'd ever see. I wasn't sure if I should awe at his cuteness or be disturbed.

"Just go work on clearing the floor below for now. I wanna collect samples." We agree because who would actually want to mess around in that... except for an absolute madman named Taehyun. I'm sure Juno would enjoy it as well, but she's rather preoccupied.

The sun is stretching past afternoon, but it hasn't quite reached sunset. I look outside the large window at the lawn painted in red. We confidently stride down the stairs and down the hallway. We look into the office, the staff have destroyed each other. The lights don't work on this floor, but we can access the cafeteria now. We're so close to getting in the cafeteria when we meet a crowd of zombies. I gasp out loud like an idiot. They can see us now. There's so many, at least forty, maybe even a hundred of them. That was a bit much for the two of us to take on alone, and now they were headed for us.

My first instinct is to run. I'm not leaving without Riki though, so I grab his hand and pull him into the nearest room. It just so happens to be a cramped janitor's closet. It's nowhere near the size of the last one. Riki's breath is heavy and it blows on me from our proximity. In fact, we're so close right now that I can feel his body heat radiating from him. His hot breath mixes with mine as we recenter ourselves. After we calm down, our eyes lock. We can't really see each other, but something is there. Something is between us. He extends his hands out, gently placing them on my arms. He carefully pulls me into him, and who am I to deny him? I want this.

I take it upon myself to wrap my arms around him and lay my head into his chest. I feel protected in his embrace. He takes his hand and lifts my chin up to look at him. He towers over me, almost strains my neck to look at him. I feel my blinking slow as he leans in toward me. My eyes flutter shut and I feel his lips press against mine. His kiss is gentle but firm. My lips part and he takes the invitation. His tongue finds its way inside of my mouth. His taste fills my mouth. I swear I could kiss him all day. He sucks lightly on my bottom lip as our breath mixes. He presses another soft kiss on my lips.

The moment is over when the door opens. Riki pushes me behind him, ready to face whatever it was. Luckily it was just Beomgyu. His hair was disheveled and he was out of breath. He looks at Riki and then back at me. His brows furrow.

"No," Riki confirms before Beomgyu can even ask.

"Unlike you, we would rather not die from a zombie infection to the genitals," this makes Beomgyu snicker and he leads us up to the top floor again. The zombies that had previously invaded the floor were all on the ground.

"How'd you kill all of them?" I ask.

"Well, there's a thing we call post-nut clarity. Apparently it helped Juno think up a really cool defense tool." He explains while trying to indirectly credit himself for her intelligence.

"You sure it wasn't the studying and work she's done with Taehyun?" I say, knowing that discrediting him will upset him.

"Certain" He says with confidence. We step through the net Riki made and a feeling of safety washes over me. The bodies and puddles are gone. Someone, most likely Taehyun, had cleaned them up. The classroom was sterile and organized just as we'd been keeping it. Everyone from all of our assigned groups has returned. We had a very successful morning. For the rest of the day, we'll finish clearing the entire school of zombies and start cleaning up.

"We need a top and bottom floor team." Juno says. Top floor will start expanding usable rooms. Some of us will even have our own rooms. Bottom floor will clean and reinforce broken walls and doors. I offer to take the top floor. As soon as I do, Riki volunteers for the bottom. I feel my heart sink when he does. I'm a bit shocked too. After all that we've done together? After that kiss? Maybe It didn't mean anything to him. It was probably all a big mistake.