Nothing happened that night, and the next day when Sungmi and Sehun returned to their beds, the pair were shattered. She felt tired, and pretty smelly since she hadn’t had a chance to wash properly since coming here.

After only a couple of hours of rest, Sungmi was awakened by a tapping on her arm. Although reluctant, she opened her eyes to see Kyungsoo leaning over her.

He smiled a little when he saw her looking up at him. “Morning,” he whispered delicately.

Sungmi’s lips parted to a small smile too. “Morning,” she returned, rolling over to face him completely.

Kyungsoo glanced nervously over his shoulder. “You should get up to wash now,” he told her, still looking behind himself to the basin in the corner. “The others are all away, you can wash properly.”

Blinking up at him, it took Sungmi’s sleepy brain to process what he was saying to her. Then, when the words did sink in, Sungmi suddenly became aware of how dirty she felt and how uncomfortable the bandages around her chest had become.

Scrambling up and out of the bed, Sungmi began looking around for her soap and towel. “How long do I have?” she asked, grabbing the essentials.

Kyungsoo shook his head. “I don’t really know. They left about half an hour ago. But don’t worry, I’ll stand at the door and stop them coming back in until you’re dressed again.”

Smiling thankfully, Sungmi touched Kyungsoo’s shoulder gently as a show of gratitude. “I actually can’t wait to get these bandages off,” she said happily.

Kyungsoo began to smile, then his cheeks pinked a little as he realised what she was actually implying. “Eh, yeah… Well, I’ll just, you know, be outside. Guarding. You,” and he awkwardly stalked from the room.

Almost as soon as the door clicked shut behind him, Sungmi was whipping her clothes off, starting with her top. Glancing down, she saw the dirtied bandages around her bust that had become dull and threaded. Ripping at the bandages harshly, she tore them from herself and breathed a sigh of relief before stripping off her trousers and started filling the tub in the corner of the room. Although the tub wasn’t meant for washing bodies in – just clothes – Sungmi hadn’t yet sussed how to use the communal wash room, so this would have to do.

The water at home was always warm; here it was like a dousing in icy water but Sungmi couldn’t really find the heart to complain about it right now when it felt so nice to have water of any kind pouring down her .

Sungmi tried to wash quickly, but couldn’t really rush as much as she probably should have considering the fact that she was relishing the feeling of being clean for the first time in a long time. She doubted her face had received such a good scrubbing in a long while.

When she eventually left the tub, she dried herself off and stooped under her bed to where she had hidden the bandages. With a resigned sigh, she stretched one out and began to wrap it around herself again. It was only – thankfully – once she had finished and dressed herself completely that Kyungsoo knocked on the door.

“Sungmi,” he whispered between knocks. “The others are coming back! Quick!”

“I’m finished, you can come in,” Sungmi called back, perching herself onto her bed.

No sooner had she finished saying that than the door swung open and in stomped Baekhyun, closely followed by Chen and Sehun, both looking equally irked. Kyungsoo took up the rear, his eyes widened in panic until he clocked that Sungmi was fully dressed and safe.

“How was your day?” Sungmi asked the three boys as they all made for their respective beds, none of them seemingly feeling like chatting.

“Horrid,” Chen replied when the other two didn’t reply. “You don’t know pain until you’ve been stuck on patrol with these two fighting all day long.”

Sehun shot a glare Chen’s way, and Baekhyun harrumphed at the accusation.

“If you knew Sehun like I do, you wouldn’t be saying that,” Baekhyun argued back.

“Stop being such a hypocrite,” Sehun muttered back, lying down on his bed and rolling over instantly. He hadn’t been able to sleep solidly in so long that his exhaustion was evident.

Baekhyun tutted exaggeratedly at this, but didn’t argue back.

The other three watched this entire episode, everyone holding their breath until Chen snorted, rolling over in his bed and switching out the light – whether or not the others wanted it off.

“None of us are on night patrol so get some rest,” he muttered sleepy, his voice contorted by his pillow.

Sungmi swallowed, but lay back in her own bed. She used the darkness to adjust her bandages a little so they were sitting a little more comfortably. The last thing she heard before she drifted to sleep was Baekhyun asking, “Can anyone smell shampoo?”

The next day, the group’s task was to actually leave the stronghold to do a security check of the perimeter. Before they were allowed out, they were told very strict guidelines about the protocol for finding any sort of weapon, and what to do if a security alarm suddenly went off. Baekhyun and Sungmi had been out of the camp already on their first night, but for the others this was their first time stepping out since arriving.

Chen was the first out, leading by example. He was careful, but did not look in any way afraid. In Sungmi’s opinion, he looked pretty darn ideal for the job at hand.

“Clear,” he motioned to the others who tottered out with him.

Sungmi looked along the vast expanse, not seeing any sign of the nearest camp to their own from over the dead grass and marsh that lay there.

When her feet sloshed into a particularly wet area, her boot got stuck and she had to heave at it.

“Why the heck do they train us in the freaking desert if this is where they’re going to plonk us?” she grumbled angrily, tugging at her foot once more. The force of the tug was enough to loosen the boot, but instead of becoming free, Sungmi began to topple because in he