It was a good decision, coming up to swim, for the water was refreshing cool and soothing. It gave him energy and he swam quickly with strong . He must have made at least 3 laps when he paused and heard claps. It was Dawn, the head secretary of ELITE. She was an attractive woman, with long brown hair that belonged in a shampoo commercial, and red lips that were heart shaped. And she had a long line of admirers too. Despite her good looks , she proved that she was no bimbo. Dawn went to Harvard University and held one of the most important positions in ELITE.

 

"Nice swim," she commented. "Care to have breakfast with me?"

 

"Sure." 

 

---

A few minutes later, the two were having belgium waffles at the poolside area like old friends. It was a little strange, considering the fact that Yuto had never been particularly chummy with Dawn. The view of the sun rising was a plus point though. "Isn’t it beautiful?" Dawn asked, a serene look on her face.

 

"Yes it is." Yuto replied, although he was thinking that she was a little weird in the head. Someone with the goal of wiping out millions of humans admiring the sunset? Someone destroying nature appreciating nature itself? It was a little ironic. And then Yuto was reminded that her name was Dawn, and he laughed silently his head.

 

"Have you ever wanted to kill someone?" Dawn asked.

 

Yuto, shocked at such a morbid question, simply shook his head. 

 

"Well, I have. I used to admire him, but I woke up.  Dr Abrams is a piece of , do you know that?" Dawn ranted, her face full of rage. "He needs to pay for what he did."

 

"What did he do?" Yuto asked, curious.

 

"He used me. I’m so sick of being his lowly assistant, at his every beck and call. His little shadow. I’m sick of it all!"

 

Dawn grasped Yuto’s hands suddenly, the look in her eyes turned into desperation.

 

"Please, help me, Yuto. I can’t do this alone. Help me ruin Jared Abrams."

 

"Dawn, we can’t. Dr Abrams is so powerful. If we get caught, it’ll be the end."

 

At this Dawn’s face hardened. Yuto felt uncomfortable, stealing weapons and a plane was one thing, assassination was another.

 

"You know, you might want to see this." Dawn said as she slid her phone across the table, and stared at Yuto right in the eye. 

 

"What?"he asked.

 

It was a video of him and Yookyung at the hangar, loading weapons onto the plane.

 

Yuto laughed uneasily. "I can explain."

 

"It’s just,I know you don’t approve of Project Alice." Dawn said out of the blue. "What?" Yuto said, shocked that she could see through his facade.

 

"I’ve been observing you. You and that Yookyung girl. If I’m correct, you probably helped her acquire the weapons and access to the hangar."

 

Yuto scoffed. "I would never do anything like that."

 

"Let’s just stop pretending," Dawn snapped, and stared at Yuto straight in the eyes. "I don’t tell anyone that you helped her, and you help me in destroying Jared Abrams. How about that?"

 

Yuto glared at her and was about to get up and leave when Dawn quickly added "The consequences would be dire, you know. Betrayal is not taken lightly at ELITE. You helped steal an aircraft, weapons. You helped her leave without any legitimate reasons!"

 

Yuto stopped in his tracks. Dawn was right. If found out, he would be jailed. What would his uncle say? Still, he hated being blackmailed. 

 

"How do I know I can trust you?" 

 

"I don’t hate you, Yuto," Dawn said softly, a smile forming on her lips, as if she knew she already won. "But I do hate Dr Abrams. And I know you don’t support Project Alice. Together, we can take Dr Abrams and Project Alice down. Don’t you want that?"

 

"Fine, but I want a favour."

 

8.03am Mecenatpolis

 

The camping shop was a wonderland. Since they were allowed to take whatever they wanted, the girls made sure their backpacks were filled with water and food, ranging from canned salmon to butter cookies.They also swapped their clothes for fresh ones that were more practical. In particular, Namjoo exchanged her dress and heels for boots and shorts with a t-shirt. The girls also took the chance to clean up, wiping dirt and occasionally, dried blood the infected had left on them.

 

"I’m glad we found people to help us," Eunji said while drying her face with a hand towel. Everyone agreed. They started to move to the central area for a meeting with the rest. They were going to discuss how to get to the broadcast station to reach out to more survivors for help. Naeun needed the toilet so she asked the others to go without her first. She tied her hair neatly in a ponytail and left the bathroom, stomach grumbling.I could use some of those cookies earlier. She only took a step out of the bathroom when something grabbed her arm. Surprised, Naeun almost screamed but was muffled by a hand. She turned around wildly to see the tall lanky boy. Shhh, he gestured with a finger to his lips.  

 

He began to pull her away, and Naeun immediately resisted. She didn’t know him at all, and while they had an agreement to work together, there was something about him that told her he was unpredictable and maybe dangerous. "Let me go!" She tugged at the hand that was covering her hand, and then swiftly kicked him in the shin.

 

"!" The guy cried out loud in pain, and his eyes flashed with frustration. "Just follow me, for ’s sake." He said, exasperated.

 

"Why should I? I don’t even know you." Naeun retorted. "Besides, we have a meeting to get to."

 

The boy bit his lip and looked at the ground. "You don’t know me? I’m Jae. Give me five minutes, please." 

 

Naeun hesitated, but his change in tone sounded sincere, so she relented. "Alright, but five minutes only."

 

She followed him to a resting area that was deserted. There was an abandoned donut shop, reminding Naeun that she was hungry. After all, they only had crackers for dinner yesterday. Jae led her to a bench and began talking.

 

"I couldn’t talk there because there were some people in that vicinity," he explained. "Anyway, I saw you and I knew I had to tell you this. I overheard some of the guys talking, they were planning to pretend to go along with the plan but they want to steal the weapons and cure you all have." Upon hearing this, Naeun’s eyes widened. How could they? "And, I don’t know if they will harm you girls. I mean, I’ve seen Hawk. He’s brutal. Won’t bat an eyelid when he kills." He went on to describe Hawk, a bald muscular man and his gang.

 

"Thanks for telling me…I guess." Naeun said.

 

"You should probably warn your friends. Keep your guards up."

 

Naeun nodded, unable to speak. The situation they were in was unnerving. She couldn’t decide which was worse-the infected or dangerous men. At the moment, the infected was far away in her mind but she told herself that there would be more dangerous infected out there, of a whole different level than the ones they’ve seen. It seemed as if she would have to hold her breath-to always keep an eye open. Suddenly she found herself doubting her trust in the other girls. Who were to say one of them wouldn’t betray the others? Naeun eased those bad thoughts out of her mind. No, all the more she should rely on them, she had no one else left already.

 

"Stop worrying." a boyish and yet deep voice snapped her back to reality. For a moment she had forgotten that Jae was there. "Let’s go," he said while standing up and stretching. "We’re going to be late for the meeting." 

 

"Alright," Naeun said, and the two walked at a fast pace to the meeting area.

 

Namjoo glanced at the large clock, wondering where the hell Naeun was. "She’s been gone for nearly 15 minutes," she commented to the group.

 

"Eh, she’s probably just taking her own sweet time, don’t worry." Bomi replied. "And its not like there’s any infected around here." 

 

"There she is!" Hayoung announced. They turned around to see Naeun walking towards them with the tall lanky boy from earlier. 

 

"Where were you?" Namjoo asked, eyeing the two.

 

Naeun looked oddly uncomfortable, and when she neared them, whispered that she had something to tell them that could only be said in private. 

 

The meeting commenced with Xiao leading it. First, they held a vote, for some of the people there didn’t want to leave the place. In total, 28 people were going with them to fight against ELITE. They decided to make it to the broadcast station by foot for the car park was full of the infected, and it was estimated that the journey would take half a day. Namjoo was kinda worried, for they had never been outside for that long before, but she was confident that her stamina was good.

 

"We must look out for one another out there," Xiao said, looking at the small crowd of people. "And as the famous Winston Churchill said, 'If you’re going through hell, keep going.' " 

 

Cheers and whoops erupted as people smiled, a sense of nervousness and anticipation in the air. 

 

"We will leave in an hour’s time," Yuri announced. "Take the time to eat, sharpen your knives, or say goodbye to those staying."

 

The word 'goodbye' triggered something in Namjoo, for she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to her parents. The fact that they didn’t pick up had crushed Namjoo, but she tried to think positive. Perhaps they lost their phones. Being an only child, she was closer to her parents than other people. The best memory, she thought, had to be when her mum dressed her up for school prom. She felt like a princess, her mother, her queen dolling her up for the ball. Her mother saying that she would do this again when she got married. Telling her that she had to find someone as handsome as her father.

It was weird because Namjoo wasn’t a very sentimental person, but this apocalypse was making her so.

 

Namjoo was lost in her thoughts when a tap on her shoulder brought her back to reality. It was Hayoung. "Let’s go," the tall girl gestured in the direction of the others, who were already moving.

 

They went back into the camping shop, where Naeun hovered nervously near the door for awhile, as if making sure no one else was around the area.

 

"So what do you want to tell us that is so private?" Yookyung asked, settling down on a beanbag.

 

"Yeah, did you do something with that boy?" Bomi joked.

 

"No! You guys, this is serious." Naeun said and then walked over to them, choosing to stand.

 

She told them about what Jae had divulged to her, trying her best to summarise everything. 

 

"What? How dare they?" Eunji blurted out, and Bomi agreed instantly.

 

"Now we have to be wary of them too?" Namjoo asked, exasperated. When were they ever going to take a break?

 

"Tell us how they look like," Hayoung prompted Naeun.

 

"Well, I’m not very sure myself, but Hawk is the bald and muscular one and his second-in-command is the tanned man with tattoos on his arm." 

 

"Oh god, they looked so scary!" Namjoo fiddled with her jean jacket. They were worried and scared. 

 

"It’s fine, I’ll protect you," Eunji showed off her biceps and hugged Namjoo, and the girls erupted in laughter, some of the tension eased.

 

"We’ll just need to stick to each other as usual and keep a look out." Chorong declared. Everyone agreed. They wouldn’t let this keep them from their ultimate goal— to stop Project Alice.