Wonwoo wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his combat knife, aiming the tip downwards as he brought it against the leather surface of his sheath. Carefully, he scratched the material and etched two letters onto his sheath: WW, his initials.

It was the dawn of the search, so the morning chill was evident in the air. He had been the first ones to raise his hand in favour of today's search yet he couldn't help but feel anxious as yesterday's time ticked by and the sun set down. Teams have been decided in case they needed to look further into the forest. He was to be with Mingyu, Hansol, and Seungcheol for their search. Jihoon would be leading Jisoo, Jeonghan, Seungkwan, and Seokmin. Soonyoung volunteered to lead a group, taking Chan, Junhui, and Minghao.

He was sitting right in front of the river, legs criss crossed and inspecting the newly etched initials on his sheath. Many more of the guys had done the same thing, though there was barely any meaning behind the gesture.

They all had already eaten a good amount of breakfast and the last boy had declared himself prepared. Wonwoo had carefully laid down his nailed baseball bat beside him as he waited for everybody else to meet at the end of the bridge. Seungcheol called up for everyone, standing at the end of the bridge. Wonwoo sheathed his knife and picked up his bat, heaving himself up and standing in a huddle with the rest.

Seungcheol gave a reassuring nod to the nervous participants, donning on a comforting smile to dispel their worries. "Do we all remember our groups?" A hush of positive answers swept among them as the leader asked. "We'll come back here in half an hour, and remember not to stray too far from the village! You guys have to remember to keep track of where you are." The leader reminded, making eye contact with the boys as a way to reinforce his words to them. 

Wonwoo's grip tightened around the bat he held, steeling up for the upcoming search. The group began crossing the bridge, each noting every step they took towards the other end of the bridge. As they filed out, they regrouped into their respective teams.

Silently exchanging looks of encouragement, the teams branched out. Soonyoung and Jihoon's team headed into the forest in north east and north west respectively. Seungcheol guided the team north into the forest.

The air was damp and cool in the morning, not like the humid haze in the noon. Wonwoo closely observed the trees searching for possible cameras. They didn't know how advanced these captors were with their security, so they had no idea how closely they had to look. Was it above among the trees? Implanted among the ground? In the tree trunks? Every inspection had to be thorough. He willed himself to not get distracted by the sunlight shining through the ceiling of the forest, but he couldn't help but appreciate the serene view.

His hands gripped onto the handle of his nailed bat, steeling himself and his caution rising as they travelled further into the forest. He couldn't see the village anymore, prompting him to be alert as they observed what they could.

Wonwoo could tell that for each thing they inspected, the team became more ansty. Not a single device was discovered yet. Clearly, they must've came across something by now. How miniscule were these monitoring devices? The most convenient spot for cameras to record footage were the trees, but how far up did they scale? They also had to consider how far apart each camera could be installed.

For the first ten minutes, the group had made a hushed conversation amongst themselves. Silence didn't settle well with them, but neither did bantering. They limited their voices as a precautionary tactic. They'll be able to hear danger coming, and they won't attract it. "We'll have to note any patterns that we see," Seungcheol reminded, "Anybody seen anything?" Wonwoo shook his head, "Not yet." Hansol had been assigned to check the trees, Seungcheol and Mingyu were on the look out, and Wonwoo filled in both roles.

"I have a feeling escaping out into the world will be as confusing as this place," Wonwoo talked to nobody in particular. He had imagined how they would adjust themselves back into their supposed normal lives, having to get to know their families again, in the case that they don't get their memories back. He had imagined the possible reaction from the media and from society. His peace of mind wasn't going to return if they were going to be pestered about their captivity. Mingyu nodded to indicate the shared sentiment, "At least it would be better than dying out here, surrounded and trapped by bloodthirsty bags of bones."

Seungcheol and Mingyu hitched their steps. Seungcheol muttered under his breath, "Speak of the devil." The four quickly dispersed behind the closest trees. 

Just across, one skeletal pale figure tread towards them. It seemed that they noticed it before it could notice them. On the tree to Wonwoo's left, he saw Hansol throwing looks towards his teammates. Mingyu and Seungcheol's faces were hardened. Mingyu tipped the crowbar in his hands in the air, silently asking the leader if they should attack. Seungcheol nodded, raising up the palm of his hand to signal him to wait. 

As each minute passed, the creature's weak steps grew closer to them. It seemed to be going in the direction between the trees all four of them hid behind. Wonwoo steadied his own breath and gripped onto his nailed bat. Hansol had his own spiked club in his hands, his jaw set as he prepped himself. Seungcheol and Mingyu inched their heads out the tree trunks, ducking their heads back as they saw the creature meters away. They both nodded, raising up their bats in anticipation.

Wonwoo could feel his heart pound as he heard the rustle of leaves and twigs under the creature's feet. He was ready to jump in in case things went south, and he could see Hansol do the same. The creature trudged on, its breathing raspy and scarce. Its gruelling body came to Seungcheol and Mingyu's view, both still and silent.

Time seemed to freeze as all sights laid on the creature, frighteningly frail and distorted.

Wonwoo flinched as its head twitched towards Seungcheol.

It let out a headsplitting screech.

Mingyu pounced up, swinging his bat and meeting the creature's head with an audible crack.

Silence followed up. 

Seungcheol stepped out of the tree and scanned the vicnity. "Be quiet," he murmured, refusing to lower his bat. Wonwoo and Hansol rejoined them. Wonwoo faced the lying pale figure frumped on the ground, readying his bat. Blood oozed out from where Mingyu had struck the creature and its jaw slacked ajar. Hansol curiously shifted his head towards Wonwoo as he kept an eye out back to back with Seungcheol and Mingyu. "What are you doing?" He asked. 

There was nothing wrong with being careful. Wonwoo remained his sights on the corpse, "Just making sure it stays dead." He brought his bat up in the air, driving it down to its head once again. Droplets of blood splattered onto his bat, slowly streaking down on the smooth wood and staining the nails. He stayed his sights for another good moment before turning away. 

"We're in some trouble here," Seungcheol gravely announced. He unsheathed his knife hanging from his waist, slashing the tree trunk nearest to him. Wonwoo took a look around and realized that the screech that rang out had garnered two more monsters their way, one from each side. "Should we meet them head on?" Mingyu side eyed the leader, waiting on further instructions. Seungcheol nodded his head, "We haven't completed our objective yet-"

"I might know where they are." Hansol excitedly interrupted. Seungcheol threw a glance at the boy, "Okay, we'll take care of these two and we'll get to you." Wonwoo took to Seungcheol's side and Hansol assisted Mingyu.

"Wanna give it a go?" Seungcheol kept his sights on the monster. Wonwoo took a moment to contemplate. "I'll just keep an eye out," he declined. Seungcheol smiled, "Just like how you are in soccer, huh?" He didn't wait for a reply and charged forward. The monster let out a cry and rushed towards his assailant, drawing out its hollow, desperate breaths. Seungcheol pounced to the side, making the monster hitch to a stop and whip around. Its head was met with the sudden swing of his bat, sounding out a terrible crack on impact.

"The aggressive frontliner, just like how you are in soccer, huh?" Wonwoo retorted. Seungcheol cracked a smile.

The other monster's body sprawled limply across the ground. Mingyu had held up his weapon before allowing himself to lower it.

"Hansol," Seungcheol called for his attention, "you said you noticed something?" The boy nodded confidently. "Anybody could've missed it, but I think I found a pattern. It's worth checking out." Hansol began backtracking, inspecting the trees they passed by. The other three followed as quietly as possible, careful not to make any noise in fear of attracting any more monsters.

Hansol stopped at a tree and spotted something up along the tree's bark. He waited until the other three arrived by his side, propping his spiked club against the trunk.

He then pointed just about four meters up the tree, "Do you see that horizontal mark there?" Wonwoo's sight scaled up the bark. He caught a thin line horizontally slashed across the bark, about four inches wide. In the middle of the cut was a deeper one that was at least one inch wide.

"I'm climbing up, watch my back." Hansol didn't wait for any response, getting a good grip of the tree and heaving himself up. Seungcheol stepped up right below him, prepared to catch the boy if he lost his grip. The suspense lingered as he approached the cut. Wonwoo watched in anticipation as Hansol inspected it. He sees the shift in head positioning as Hansol searches for a hidden camera. 

His sights land a few inches above the cut. He pulls himself closer, tilting his head in different angles. Hansol turns his head to look at his teammates below, his expression unreadable.

He then cracks a triumphant grin, "Found it."

Author's Note
BACK FROM THE D E A D. Now I did say that I would never abandon this story. I'm determined to keep my word. I've further planned where the hell this story is going so I have more resolve to write. Will I go into a writer's block again? Probably. Will I finish this story? Definitely. Again, I planned way too much of this story for me to just leave it incomplete. "wtf this author took way too long to update" I completely understand, y'all. So sorry. I understand that some of you may have lost interest over this story but to those who may be sticking around??? Thank you.