Everyone, including Jin, looked at Coral, surprised. They didn’t think she had it in her. Her son approached her and gently placed her slender palm in his hands. “Does it hurt?”

The angry man looked down and whispered. “My face hurts!”

Audible to the rest, he received a few scornful looks. Coral clenched her hand visibly, which made him step back.

Jorge tried to diffuse the situation. Mostly an easygoing man. Tall with a strong build. His stern looks and fast decision-making skills in a case of need earned him the place of leadership. He didn’t ask to be in charge, but didn’t refuse either. “Easy now, both of you. There are people outside. We don’t know their intentions. There’s no need to fight among ourselves.”

He looked at them both with eyes that shot daggers. “Now, apologize to one another…”

Coral looked the other way. Her voice was barely audible. “I’m sorry I hit you…”

“Now, your turn Kroll!”

He clicked his tongue and held his voice in as long as possible. “Sorry…”

Jorge sighed in relief that another bout ended, but they still had to consider the situation outside.

Meanwhile, Jin wrapped his mother’s hand with gauze. The force she used almost fractured it on Kroll’s face. When he was done, he placed his hand on top of her head and patted her. She pouted and shoved it away.

Jin chuckled and let her be. He picked up his bat and placed it on his shoulder. He approached Jorge and stood next to him. “How can I help?”

Coral shook her head, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him back. “Jin…”

He smiled and gently released his shirt from her grasp. “I’ll be fine. Lily will keep you company.”

Soon after, the rest of them that held guns, Kroll included, stood in line next to Jorge.

They unbarred the doors and carefully unlocked them, trying to make as little noise as possible. There were no gunshots outside anymore, meaning one of two things. Either those people are dead, or they put down all the corpses. Either outcome didn’t appear favorable.

As Jin took a step towards the door, Jorge grabbed him by his shoulder and held him in place. “Your courage is commendable, kid, but I’ll go first.”

Jorge stepped out of the hospital and flinched under the bright sunlight. He looked around and saw a few people wearing uniforms standing over the corpses. Jorge wasn’t sure what to make of it. He was relieved when he noticed their guns were in the holsters.

“We didn’t think anyone was in there. Do you have room for more?”

A man walked in front of the group. The others looked the other way as if they didn’t want to get involved, and Jorge picked up on that. “Maybe in a few days when we leave…”

Without warning, he pulled the gun out of its holster and pointed at Jorge’s face. “Why? I asked you nicely…”

“Grandpa…”

Lily ran out and went to Jorge’s side. She held onto him with every ounce of strength she could muster with her slender hands. Jorge’s face dropped. “Go back inside, Lily.”

The man looked at the girl intensively. “So, granddaughter…”

He snickered and let out a screech-like laugh that sent chills down their spines. “I’ll tell you what…”

He didn’t have time to finish his sentence when a bat came down on his hand. He didn’t even have time to react. Jin broke the hand he held the gun in. Before he even let out a scream, he got in front of Jorge and Lily and pressed the bat on his throat. “You won’t say anything… You will turn around and leave.”

He looked at the other guys with uniforms from top to bottom who seemed just as surprised by what happened as Jorge was. “You lot.”

His voice startled them and forced them to look at him. “If you share any of his thoughts, you can follow him. There will be no second warning.”

The man groaned in pain. He held his broken hand and glared at Jin. His face turned red, and veins popped on his neck and forehead. The man turned around to leave, but not before calling out to the rest of the people he was with. “Come on, let’s get out of here…”

Not only did they ignore him, but they also looked the other way. He gritted his teeth but said nothing. The man swallowed his anger and left in silence. He reached the gate and turned around to look at them. From the corners of his eyes, he glared at Jin and spat in his direction. “I’ll remember you…”

After he left, Jin looked at the people wearing uniforms. “If you are not going…”

“That guy was a bully. We were planning to leave him behind when we got the chance…”

Jin turned his gaze towards the female voice that interrupted him. She had shoulder-length black hair and green eyes that looked like emeralds. She was the only one without a uniform. He looked toward the wretched man that just left and back to her. Jin wondered why he didn’t make a move on her.

She understood what his gaze meant and giggled. She brushed her hand as if she was saying he didn’t matter. “I kicked his ass before…”

Jin looked at the others once again, and their grim expressions changed to more relaxed ones. “Are you with the police or something…?”

The woman shook her head. “These guys were guards in a nearby Juvenile Detention Facility. My dad was the warden there…”

Jin saw the sorrow in her eyes. “Was he…?!”

She nodded. Before tears could well up in her eyes, she rubbed them with her sleeve.

Jorge jumped into the conversation. “Doesn’t that place have sturdy walls?”

Another person from the group explained. “No matter how big the walls are, when people panic, it leads to chaos. And doors can’t keep a herd of those things out.”

With one voice, Jin and Jorge uttered. “A herd?”

“A bunch of them together broke through the gates. They overran the place in minutes. We were the only ones that made it out. The kids there… weren’t so lucky…”

Jorge looked down. A thought flashed before his mind that made him look back into the hospital. His voice came out trembling. “Those poor kids. Kroll’s son was there…”

“After what happened, if you don’t want us here…”

Jin smiled and raised his hand to stop her from talking further. He stepped to the side and showed them the door behind him. “Come in!”

He then looked at Jorge to confirm, and he received a nod of approval.